Author's Notes: I do not own Once Upon A Time which is a show on ABC where the best news you've had about your ship is that half of it might be dying... Like, yeah, really. Anyway, thanks for the reads and reviews! I really appreciate them! Please let me know what you think and happy reading!
Now- Storybrooke
Neal stared at his father.
"You're going to London to save Doctor Watson from Professor Moriarty?"
"Yes."
Neal looked at Emma, then back at his father. They were standing in the living room of the pink house, evidence of their imminent departure all over.
"That's insane," he concluded.
"Yeah," Emma agreed. "In a town based on crazy, you have found a new high."
Belle came down the stairs, carrying more suitcases.
"Maybe I should go," said Neal. "I mean, I've been there before."
Beatrice entered with her carry-on. "Yeah, not like anything's changed since... Oh, wait everything's changed."
"And what are you going to do?," Neal argued.
She considered. "Well, bullet points, save John Watson, Harrod's, Doctor Who Experience."
"Yeah, but you don't know what Moriarty has planned," said Emma.
Belle entered, followed by Catherine, Alec, Venus and Ingrid.
"It's nearly all settled," she said to Beatrice. "Grandmother and Grandfather will watch Lady and Martha. Grandmother will also take your place on city council. Ingrid will make sure Olaf doesn't melt..."
"And I will ex deux machina any shenanigans while you're gone," said Venus.
Emma frowned. "So, what? You've been holding out on us all this time?"
Venus shrugged. "It's good for you mortals to try to solve these things on your own. It builds your self-esteem."
Alec looked perplexed. "So, you're to take this plane from Boston over the ocean to London?"
"Yes, Grandfather," said Belle.
"And how far is it?," asked Alec.
"Siri said 3,281 miles," said Beatrice.
"And how does it fly?"
The door opened. "Grandpa?," Henry called.
"Hey, buddy," said Neal. "Come to see them off."
They then realized Regina was following Henry in carrying a suitcase.
"Regina, what's going on?," asked Emma.
"Moriarty knows the Author. If we're going to find him, I want in."
"I don't think so, dearie," said Gold.
"Well, I do," said Regina.
Gold grimaced. "Would anyone else like to come? Perhaps some of the dwarves."
It was then that Merlin entered. "What are we all standing around for?"
"Regina wants to come," said Belle.
Merlin rolled his eyes. "Good luck getting past immigration."
"Um, you're all using fake passports," said Emma. "Any of you will be lucky to get past immigration."
"They're not fake," Regina insisted.
"They're fraudulent," Emma shot back.
"Right," said Merlin. "I suppose we should all go get new passports with our real names and actual birthplaces. Merlin from Mount Olympus. I can't foresee any possible problem with that."
"Can I have like diplomatic immunity or something?," Beatrice asked.
Belle checked her watch. "We need to get the car packed."
Merlin looked at Regina. "I suppose you want a ride to the airport."
"Seeing as you're going to the same place."
Neal looked at his father. "Yeah, this is going to be a fun trip. Sorry I'm missing out." He nodded towards some bags. "Henry, help your grandparents."
"Yeah," said Emma picking up another bag. "I bet you'll have a lot of fun, Gold."
London- 1914
"It's been weeks," said Joseph. "The Darlings haven't bothered to return. There's nothing in the house. The only magic I've seen is you two stealing your wardrobes from ITV costume dramas..."
Jenna and Louise exchanged glances.
"How am I supposed to find magic if there's none to find?!," he exclaimed as he paced. "This is why people do cocaine!"
"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to endorse doing drugs," said Jenna.
"I'm pretty sure it's 1914 and it doesn't matter!," Joseph snapped.
"Look," said Louise, "we know that there's magic in London. Somebody must be using it. We just have to find that person."
"Oh, right, only a few million people to go through. Hopefully we don't die of any preventable disease while we meet them all. Say, smallpox or cholera or Spanish Flu will be around in a few years."
"Yes, well, we won't find anything here," Louise shot back. "So get dressed. We're going out."
Joseph eyed her. "Was there a point in your life where you were much cuter when you demanded I do things?"
"Well, she did get Grandpa to buy her a clothing store..." said Jenna.
Louise turned to her sister. "It was an investment."
"He spins straw into gold. What does he need to invest in things for?"
"Fine," said Joseph. "Let's go out."
He disappeared. The women got up.
"It was an investment," said Louise.
"He told you that to build your confidence."
Boston- Now
They arrived at Logan airport in late afternoon and began the task of parking the cars in the garage and unloading the luggage onto one carts.
"Are you serious now?," Merlin snapped at Regina.
"What?"
"You're putting your luggage on my cart."
"Everyone else was."
"I'm related by blood to everyone else whose luggage is on here," said Merlin.
"Father," said Belle.
"I already had her fidgeting with the radio the whole way here."
"Could we please just get on the plane?," asked Gold.
"Yeah," said Beatrice, "after we check in, check our bags, go through security and wait two hours."
Beatrice found that her parents, Regina and Pamela were staring at her.
"Oh, God, you guys really thought we were just getting on the plane from here, didn't you?"
"Alright," said Merlin. "Come on, everyone. Hurry up and wait."
Gold was lagging behind as they made their way to the check-in counter. Belle stopped and went back to her husband.
"How's your leg?"
"It's been worse."
She smiled and linked their arms.
"I know Beatrice appreciates it."
"I don't know what good I'll be to her."
"She needs us, Rumple." She sighed. "Right now, getting John back is her happy ending."
"She should have a better one."
"Of course she should, but right now I'll take this one for her sake."
Gold nodded in agreement as they walked to join the others.
London- 1914
Jenna searched through the crowd and finally spotted Louise on the other side of the street.
"Louise!," she called. "Louise!"
Louise stopped and turned on the pavement.
"Oh, right. You could have used my name."
"Not risking it."
"They're never going to give you a normal name, Jenna," she teased at the last word.
"Yeah, we'll see about that." She looked around. "Where is he?"
"I thought you had him."
"Oh, good God."
They walked down the street together and it wasn't long before they happened around a crowd and police.
"Oh, God, no..." said Jenna.
She and Louise pushed through to the front of the crowd which had gathered around an alley. Joseph was giving what seemed to be a lecture over the body of a dead woman.
"You dare to call yourself a detective? Honestly, have you ever seen a corpse before today?"
"Sir, I've asked you before-"
"These stab wounds were made post mortem or haven't you noticed? Obvious from the lack of blood!"
Another detective spoke. "There is blood-"
"Oh, good God, man, we're next to a butcher shop! Can't you smell the rotting meat? Hope no one wanted to eat here. I'd bet the proprietor of this place does a great deal of his work outside."
"But he did it!"
"Him? Are you kidding me?" He walked over to the fat man standing in his trousers and shirtsleeves as one of the constables held him. "High blood pressure? Tremors? Cholesterol's probably through the roof, his wife could have easily outrun him. Not to mention the knife wounds are done with a smooth hand and obviously if he had killed her, it would have been much better to butcher the body himself. Ought to have taken a few hours, but you found him sleeping upstairs."
"Alright, then why didn't he hear his wife screaming as she was murdered?"
"Because you idiot she didn't scream because she wasn't stabbed with a knife. Follow the footprints of her boot through the blood and you can see she stumbled. Probably paralyzed." He bent down to pull open the eyelids. "Dilated pupils. Hemlock, I should think, probably poisoned by her lover in the country."
"Her lover?," asked the butcher.
"Yeah. Sorry."
"And how can you tell that?," the head detective asked.
"The soil on her boots."
"How do we stop him?," Jenna asked Louise.
She eyed her sister. Louise was distracted.
"Oh, no. Not you, too. Don't do this to me."
"Joseph?," Louise smirked.
He looked back, startled to see her. "What?"
"You're missing something."
"Really? What might that be?"
"The boot prints."
Joseph looked down, walking back towards the path of bloody boot prints and one trailing in the other direction. He looked up at Louise in shock.
"You're looking for a woman. Probably someone very petite, explains why the force of the knife wounds was so slight, three and a half shoe size, I should think. Do you have shoe sizes yet?"
"You just said it was the wife's lover," said the detective.
"Yeah."
"So, how could it be a woman?"
Joseph stared at him a moment.
"My God, you really are an idiot."
It took a few moments, but the Edwardian audience became scandalized and there were a few murmurs.
"I suppose I'm done here. Ring me if you happen to have any other murders to solve."
"My wife wasn't a, a-"
"Lesbian is the word you're looking for. Or bisexual. I don't actually know," said Joseph. "Afternoon."
They walked off.
"And what part of that was finding magic?," asked Jenna.
"It's not my fault there was a murder being solved poorly. Besides, if we were looking for something which does not belong those so-called detectives certainly don't belong at a murder scene."
Somewhere Over the Atlantic- Now
Beatrice tried to sleep, but the noise of the plane was too much so she tried to entertain herself watching Downton Abbey on the little TV in her upper class suite. Her father had managed to book upper class suites for the five of them, complete with a seat that became a bed, TV and a work desk. Regina had glared at them when she went back to economy and then got sent back by a flight attendant when she tried to come up again. The con was that she couldn't see her parents.
"Beatrice."
She took her earbuds out and looked up at her dad. He was looking over the divider at her.
"You're not asleep," he said.
She sat up. "No."
"You didn't sleep much last night."
"Well, you know..."
She sat up.
"I don't have a clue what I'm doing." She rested her chin on the divider between them. Gold caressed the side of her cheek. "You don't have some elaborate plan you're keeping to yourself, do you? Because I could really use one."
"Unfortunately not," he answered back. "I'm certain matters will become clearer upon our arrival. That's not what's really bothering you, though."
"No," Beatrice agreed.
"None of what happened was your fault."
She scowled. "Are you sure about that? Because it seems like bad stuff happens to a lot of people because of me."
"Yes, but you didn't intend to do any of it."
"Intent is meaningless," she shot back.
"He loved you," he whispered. "That's what matters."
London- 1914
"What's going on?," asked Jenna.
They walked into the house. The sounds of talking and laughter came from the parlor. They followed the footmen as he took in another tray of drinks.
Joseph was the first to lay eyes on Doyle, Barrie...
And Mr. William Gillette.
"Good God," said Joseph.
Doyle shook his head in dismay.
Barrie was the one to try to bridge the gap. "Oh, here are Doyle's guests now. The Golds. Joseph Gold, his sisters, Jenna and Louise. This is Mr. William Gillette, the-"
"The actor. Yes, I am well aware of his work," said Joseph.
William Gillette walked over to shake Joseph's hand.
"Very nice to meet you, Mr. Gold," said William.
"Words that have never been strung together..." muttered Jenna.
"Miss Jenna, Miss Louise."
He exchanged pleasantries with the women.
"What brings you to London?," asked Louise.
"I'm doing a show at the Lyceum and I wanted to see Doyle. I intend to launch a revival of my Sherlock Holmes play next year."
"Oh, really?," asked Joseph. "And really, pray tell, where did you get the idea for the deerstalker?"
William laughed. "Oh, that old thing? I get that question all the time."
"Oh, do you?"
William looked at him in confusion. "Why, from Sidney Paget's illustration of course."
"Yes, but you're wearing a deerstalker all the time and it's a hat for the country."
"Yes, that is true, but I just suppose I know Sherlock Holmes better than you do. No offense, sir."
Joseph stared at him. "You think you know Sherlock Holmes better than me?"
"Well..."
"I hope Benedict Cumberbatch completely eclipses you in memory."
William stared back at him.
"What's a Benedict Cumberbatch?"
Louise cleared her throat. "You know I have a question."
"Yes, Miss Louise?"
"You wrote in a love interest for Sherlock Holmes."
Joseph grimaced as he got a glass of sherry off the footman's tray.
"Yes, I did," William said proudly.
"And why did you do that?," asked Louise. "There's not one in the books."
"Well, there was Miss Adler," said William.
"Miss Adler?," Joseph snapped. "Really?"
"Well, that's where some of the inspiration came from. Of course, I had to soften her a bit."
"Soften her?," asked Jenna.
"Well, no audience likes a rough female."
Louise looked to Doyle. "I just wonder why Sir Arthur's never written a love interest himself. Other than Miss Adler and let's face it, that was never going to work out."
"Oh, do tell us, Sir Arthur," said a familiar voice.
The women froze and Joseph turned slowly to see Pamela.
"This lady-" the nanny looked straight at her. "I'm sorry to be so rude. You are?"
"Louise."
"Lady Mary. A pleasure. Miss Louise makes an excellent point," she said. "Why would Sherlock Holmes fall permanently for Miss Adler?"
"Thank you," said Joseph.
"I suppose that he might be fleetingly intrigued, but a more permanent arrangement? I think not," said Lady Mary.
"I try not to concern myself with romances," said Doyle.
"Really?," asked Jenna. "You've never thought of writing a love interest for Sherlock? Not even some heiress he meets during a case?"
"No," said Doyle.
"Mr. Barrie, may I speak with you?," asked Louise.
She quickly pulled Barrie to the side and Jenna joined her.
"Basically, I need to become that woman's best friend."
Barrie looked over. "But that's Lady Mary Poppins, eldest daughter of the Earl of Hartnell."
"And I am telling you that woman is my nanny," said Louise.
"And I suppose she has magic as well?," asked Barrie.
"She has a talking umbrella that she flies around on," said Jenna.
"You mean the parrot talks?," Barrie asked in astonishment.
"Only when it thinks you can't see it."
Barrie was all astonishment again as he walked towards Mary.
"Lady Mary, I wonder if you might do me a favor?"
"Well, I would have to know what it is first."
"The Gold sisters are new to London. I wonder if you might show them a bit of town. Perhaps you could take a walk around Kensington Park?"
Mary looked at them. "Around two at the Peter Pan statue?"
"The what?," asked Louise.
"That would be lovely. Thank you, Lady Mary," said Jenna.
London - Now
"How does it look to you?," Merlin idly asked Pamela once they were on the ground.
She scoffed. "Different."
"Well, a hundred years and two world wars will do that to a place," he remarked.
The group made their way through customs save Regina. She had been rather towards the back of the plane. They stopped to get their luggage before heading through passport control.
"Something's going on," Gold whispered to Belle.
"What?"
"This place isn't right."
Belle shook her head. "What do you mean, Rumple?"
"There's magic here."
"What?"
Beatrice looked around. "Guys, where did we lose Merlin?"
Belle turned. "Pamela, did you see him?"
Before she could answer, two huge men in suits appeared with a bevy of security guards and surrounded them.
"Mr. and Mrs. Gold. Miss Gold. Miss Travers," said the first huge man. "Follow us."
"Why is that?," asked Gold.
"This way, sir."
Belle linked arms with Beatrice as they followed the men.
They sat in a bizarrely empty white room for what must have been a good half hour before Regina was shoved in.
"Ma'am, it would do you good to calm yourself," said the guard.
"Don't patronize me. You have no idea who I am," she snarled.
The door shut with Regina on the inside. Gold sighed and rolled his eyes.
"What the hell's going on?," demanded Regina.
"What's going on is that you can barely handle life in Storybrooke when everyone's not bowing to you," sneered Gold. "Let alone the real world."
"Why the hell isn't Merlin here?," asked Regina.
A door opened on the other side of the room. Merlin entered shortly followed by an older man, impeccably dressed in a plain black suit with clean lines.
"Oh, but I am here," said Merlin.
Regina scowled.
"And where did you go, dearie?," asked Gold.
"Well, sunshine, if you must know, I had to go see Mr. Jeeves here." He motioned at him.
"Mr. Jeeves?," asked Beatrice.
"Yes, miss. You must be Beatrice Elizabeth Gold, the Dark Princess and Heiress to the Far North Kingdom. This must be your mother, Belle and that makes you Rumplestiltskin, the Dark One."
"Okay, why does Jeeves seem to know my life story?," asked Beatrice.
"Because I told him we were coming," said Merlin.
"And he believed you?"
Jeeves cleared his throat softly. "Unlike the United States government, we have known for some time that all stories are true somewhere. Also, we would have noticed if a town had just popped up overnight."
"Yeah, like Brigadoon," said Beatrice.
"I'm afraid that's classified, Miss Gold."
Beatrice's eyes widened.
"Perhaps you could just tell us what's happening," Belle suggested. "Father?"
Merlin sighed. "Alright, you believe this to be a Land Without Magic and it's not. Not entirely. I brought magic to this island centuries ago."
"You did what?," asked Gold.
"I might point out it's bigger than Storybrooke."
"I'm sorry, could we just get to the more things are real than I thought thing?," asked Beatrice. "Jeeves is real. Brigadoon is real. What else is real?"
"That's classified."
"Oh, my God, Jeeves is head of Torchwood for magical people. I need to go to St. Pancras."
"We've already discussed that," said Merlin. He turned to Jeeves. "She will go on like this all day if you let her. Are we good?"
"Yes. You know the rules on magic. Not where it can be seen, preferably only of it's a matter of life and death." Jeeves turned to Regina. "Though we do have our concerns about her. Can you vouch for her?"
Regina looked indignantly at Merlin.
"Oh, come on," said Merlin. "He's worried about you slaughtering a village. Can't say that I blame him."
"I've changed."
"Yes, but it was an awful lot of villagers."
"I think we can arrange something." Jeeves turned his attention to Pamela. "Lady Mary, there's some business for you to attend to at the office whenever it's convenient for you."
"Yes, of course."
Beatrice now turned to her nanny. "So, I get Mary, obviously. What's with the Lady?"
London- 1914
Louise shook her head at the Peter Pan statue.
"I can't believe they gave this asshole a statue."
"Come on," said Jenna.
"I'm going to knock it down."
"You can't knock it down. You might change the future."
"I don't care."
"Yes, you do care."
"Oh, look, Timothy, there's Peter Pan," said a woman.
Louise spun to face the boy and his nanny. "Peter Pan was a megalomaniacal narcissist who abandoned his son."
"Peter Pan can't have children," said Timothy.
"Yes, we all know that," she shot back. "How else could he use the magic in Neverland?"
"Any time you want to stop," Jenna said under her breath.
The nanny ushered the boy away. Just then, Lady Mary approached.
"Miss Gold. Miss Louise."
"Lady Mary," Jenna replied.
The other woman stared at her.
Jenna was desperate to fill the void. "What fine weather we're having."
"We know you're magical," said Louise.
"I beg your pardon," said Mary.
"You're magical. We know. You have an umbrella, it talks. And a bag that's bigger on the inside," Louise continued.
"If this is Mr. Barrie's idea of a joke, I will not be made a fool of."
"This isn't a joke," said Louise.
"I think I suddenly have no desire for a walk," said Mary. "Good day to you ladies."
"Mary, wait!," said Jenna.
Louise turned to her. "Do it."
"Do what."
"You know what."
Jenna's eyes widened. "Oh, no."
"What's she going to do? Send you to bed without dessert?" She pointed at Mary. "She's walking away. Do it!"
Lady Mary stopped as a snowball hit her in the back.
She turned slowly to see Jenna.
"Oh my God, she has the same look on her face," Jenna quickly whispered.
Mary slowly walked back towards them as they stood trembling.
"That was a trick," she accused.
"It was a trick but not the kind you're thinking," said Jenna.
"Prove it."
Jenna sighed and looked around. She held out her hand and revealed another snowball. Mary's eyes widened.
"You do have the curse," she mused.
"What? No, magic's not a curse," said Jenna.
"Oh, really? Is that what they think in America? Have you ever had to keep your magic a secret?"
"Yes," said Jenna.
"From your own family?"
"No," she admitted.
"I can't tell my parents because I am certain they will send me to an asylum. How am I ever supposed to get a husband? Would anyone want a wife who can fly on an umbrella?"
"I'd be okay with it," said Louise.
"Not the time," said Jenna. She turned back to Mary. "Look, we're just trying to find a portal home. That's all."
"A what?," asked Mary.
"A portal," Jenna repeated. "God, you really are at the beginning, are you? Something that you can use to get from realm to realm."
"I still haven't the foggiest, but I do know a man. Well, I know of a man. He's said to make deals with people. I have an appointment with him this afternoon. Perhaps you can tag along and he'll help you."
London - Now
"Beatrice, you can stay here," said Gold.
They had barely been in their suite at Claridge's an hour when her parents had changed clothes and appeared to be heading out the door.
"What? Where are you going?," she asked.
"To see someone."
"Yes, but Merlin's seeing someone, Pamela's seeing someone, Regina's getting fitted for an ankle monitor..." she trailed off. "We're supposed to be saving John. I don't know how we'll do it while I'm sitting here looking for television that hasn't yet aired in the U.S."
"I promise, sweetheart, we will get to that," said Gold, kissing her.
Belle took her turn kissing her. "Just stay here and order some breakfast or something."
"Absolutely," said Gold. "Such a large city. It can't be safe out there."
"Yes, but I'm the only one in it who can turn people into ice cubes. I'll be fine."
"Stay here," Belle said sternly.
Her parents left.
"Right, just got to London, the city I've dreamed of coming to since I was eight, going to stay in my hotel room..." Beatrice stood and picked up her coat and bag. "So not happening."
She ventured out of the hotel lobby and into London. She had visited other places with Merlin and New York later with her whole family, but this was different. This was like a new world and it had been Joseph's. The city he claimed to know every street of.
She shook it off and went in the first Starbucks she found. She was careful to note the differences between American Starbucks and British Starbucks. Like the Raspberry Blackcurrant blended juice drink. She didn't even know what a blackcurrant was, actually. She got a coffee, a Nutella and oats cookie and one of the "You Are Here" mugs, then saw that Hyde Park wasn't far off. She got lost wandering around and ended up at something she hadn't expected to see.
Beatrice shook her head as she stared at this world's monument to her grandfather.
"I can't believe they gave this asshole a statue."
"Yeah, they'll make anyone a hero..."
Beatrice smiled to herself. She turned around to see Moriarty.
"So I found you."
"I wanted to be found." She shrugged and threw away her empty cup in the nearby bin.
He wagged his finger at her. "Oh, no, no, you don't make the rules."
"No, but, see you're at a disadvantage. Your story has been written and acted out a hundred times. I know you, Moriarty. You like the game. And today the game just happens to be me."
He groaned. "I don't know what they told you in the Enchanted Forest, but just because you are the True Love of Sherlock Holmes doesn't mean that you've gotten his powers of deduction."
"I'm not in the book, remember? I've got my own book which means I have the advantage, I'm making the rules of the game." She smiled. "And the game is on."
"Oh, Beatrice, you really..."
Beatrice raised her hand and Moriarty was frozen in place.
Moriarty struggled against the magical constraints.
"Your family's magic is sort of one-note, you know that?"
Beatrice walked over. "Have you seen Frozen?"
"What?"
"Frozen. You know, 'Let it go, let it go...'"
"Your point?"
"My point is this. I have the ability to freeze things..."
Beatrice waved her hand at the statue and suddenly Peter Pan was encased in ice.
"Like that. Do you know what happens when I freeze a heart?"
Moriarty glared.
"Now, I've only done it once and that was to Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West. One of the most powerful sorceresses ever and I would say, crazier than you. Now, she lasted like twenty-five years, walked around like a giant ice sculpture most of those until I shattered her and I was like an hour old then."
He stared at her questioningly.
"Do you see what you miss out on when you don't know my story?"
"If you freeze my heart, you become a villain and my job is done."
"Yeah, but you'll be dead, moron. The only thing that can thaw a frozen heart is an act of true love so have you got a True Love? Or a brother you really like?"
"What do you want?"
"I want John Watson."
"What makes you think I have John Watson?"
Beatrice narrowed her eyes. "You dragged me to London because he's your hostage? Sound familiar?"
"Yeah? Then who's that?"
Beatrice looked and saw someone who looked suspiciously like John walking through the park.
"John? John!"
He kept walking and Beatrice ran after him, leaving Moriarty to laugh.
London - 1914
Louise impatiently tapped her boot as Jenna came down the street.
"It took me forever to find a phone," Jenna explained.
"Is he coming?," asked Louise.
"The butler said he sent word that he got distracted by a murder he found. Scotland Yard is questioning him."
"Oh, great," said Jenna. "Because it's a much better use of his time to solve hundred year old murders."
They went inside the storefront. It was a rather sedate room swimming in velvets with hurricane lamps. Mary was already seated.
"Is Mr. Gold not joining us?," she asked.
Louise burst out laughing. "I'd pay money to see you call him that."
"He got distracted by a corpse," Jenna said as she sat down next to Mary. "How much longer?"
"He said I was next."
As soon as she said it, the curtains opened and a tall dark-skinned man in a morning suit entered.
"I am Doctor Facilier," he said. "I will see you now, Lady Mary."
"I never said I was-"
"You may wait, Misses Holmes."
"Holmes?," asked Mary.
"We're not letting her go in alone," said Jenna.
They followed Mary and Facilier into the next room. Mary clutched her umbrella as she sat across from the man.
He began turning cards.
"I see in your future..." he flipped a card to the Lovers. "A happy marriage."
Mary smiled. Jenna and Louise exchanged skeptical looks.
He flipped over another. "The Sun. Children."
"Yes?"
He flipped the last one. "The Wheel of Fortune."
"Yes, but I want to be like everyone else," said Mary.
"No, you don't," said Jenna.
"I at least don't want to be a freak. I want to fit in."
Facilier smiled. "I believe we can arrange that if you are willing..."
"Yes, I'm willing," said Mary.
"Whoa, hold on," said Louise.
"Yeah, what's the price?," asked Jenna.
Facilier looked at the women. "The price?"
"All magic comes with a price."
"And who told you that?," Facilier asked, narrowing his eyes at them.
"I'll pay it," said Mary. She opened her purse and dumped coins on the table. "Here, you can have it, have it all."
"Mary, I don't think you should-"
Mary snapped her head at them. "We may have something in common, but we are certainly not alike. You deal with your problems your way. I shall deal with mine how I choose."
"As you say," said Facilier.
At the moment the word was issued, a vortex opened between Mary and Facilier. Jenna and Louise scrambled away from the table, hugging the wall.
"What is it?!," Mary cried.
"Get away from it!," Jenna shouted.
"Somewhere you can fit in!," said Facilier.
The gap widened and Mary was pulled in along with her umbrella. As she was gone, the hole closed. Facilier looked at Jenna and Louise.
"Where did you send her?," Jenna asked.
"As I said, somewhere she'll fit in."
"You didn't tell her the price!"
"She didn't ask," he shrugged. "Do you wish to deal?"
"No, no, we do not wish to deal, especially not with you!"
"Then kindly leave."
Jenna and Louise found themselves out on the sidewalk. The shop's lights went out.
"What do we do?," asked Jenna. "She has a family. They'll worry themselves sick."
"We can't tell them."
"We have to tell them!"
"Tell them what? Their daughter disappeared to another realm, probably the Enchanted Forest?"
Jenna was silent.
"You're right," she finally agreed.
"Let's go back to Doyle's and..." Louise shrugged. "I don't know. We need another plan."
London - Now
The suite came with a car service and it drove Belle and Gold to a house in Belgravia.
Belle was surprised. "Are you sure she lives here?"
Gold motioned at the Panther Deville parked in front of the house. It had a number plate that read "DE VIL."
"How is it people here don't know who she is?," Belle asked.
Gold shook his head. "It's a mystery to me."
He used the door knocker and the maid let them into the sitting room. They waited until Cruella arrived.
"Well, fancy meeting you here, short stuff."
Gold grimaced and turned to see Cruella enter the room, wearing a black sequined gown and holding a martini glass.
"Drinks?," she offered.
"No, thank you, dearie."
"What? It's not as if I can do anything here. Certain people here make very sure I don't come into contact with any new magic." She looked at Belle. "Still with him? How do you put up with him after all this time?"
"Hello, Cruella," said Belle.
"So, what brings you to my side of the Atlantic?," asked Cruella pouring another drink.
Gold answered. "An old adversary. I wondered if you might have seen him since you've been sharing the same city."
"Social circles are not quite as quaint here," she mused. She looked back at Belle. "Where's the little one?"
"Who?"
"The Dark Princess," she said with feigned awe.
"Beatrice?" Belle smiled. "She's not quite so little anymore."
"Really? How old is she?"
"Nineteen."
"Cruella," Gold said, "back to the matter at hand..."
"Do you have pictures?"
"Yes," said Belle, getting out her phone.
"Belle."
"Never mind you, shorty. We're discussing things."
Belle beamed as she displayed the photos of Beatrice on her phone.
"She's positively gorgeous, darling," said Cruella. "What's that?"
"Oh, that's our snowman, Olaf."
"Belle, do you remember the part where she kidnapped you?," asked Gold.
"Honestly, Rumple, people have done far worse to me."
"And where is Beatrice?," asked Cruella.
"She's here in London with us, back at the hotel," said Belle. "Maybe you could help us?"
"And what is it that the Dark Princess needs?"
Gold sat down, bewildered that he had suddenly become inessential to the conversation.
"See, she had a True Love." Belle showed another picture.
"What a lovely tall glass of water. They look positively adorable together..."
Belle smiled ruefully. "He died."
"He died?" Cruella looked crestfallen.
"He has a brother, John and he's been taken by some of the people who have been working with the Author. We were wondering if you knew where to find Doctor Facilier."
"Well, darling, it's not as if we all meet at Club Villain and dance. Even if we did, the authorities here would frown on it, but there are some back alleys I could help you find your way through." She looked at Gold. "Assuming your little husband doesn't have a problem with that."
Beatrice lost John as he boarded a train. She was then forced to get in her phone and dig through the info she had to find the address she had for him from when she had mailed the last of Joseph's things from his room at Granny's. Then she had to wait in line, somehow turn money into an Oyster Card, board the train and follow Siri's directions to a house in Westminster.
She used the door knocker and a young Spanish woman opened the door.
"May I help you?"
"Yes, my name is Beatrice Gold, I'm here to see John Watson."
"One moment. Do come in."
Beatrice followed her inside where she could see the front room.
"Shakespeare or Dante?"
She immediately recognized the voice as Benedict Cumberbatch's and she turned to the giant TV where two ginger-headed girls were watching it. It appeared to be the Victorian Sherlock special she had yet to watch.
"I'll go see about John," said the young woman.
She left and Beatrice watched as the episode continued. The girl who had played Lady Sybil looked skeptically at Sherlock. "What?"
"Shakespeare or Dante. It seems rather obvious. Your mother's is the most prestigious literary circle in Bloomsbury and your given name is Beatrice therefore she either drew inspiration from Beatrice, the heroine of Much Ado About Nothing or Beatrice, Dante's guide through Paradise in the Inferno."
"Okay, that's a weird coincidence," she conceded aloud.
"Since when do you know anything about literature?," asked Martin Freeman with the ugly mustache back.
"I once had to solve the serial homicides of a number of librarians. Nasty business. Paper cuts really can be much deadlier than people want to believe."
"Shakespeare," Lady Sybil finally answered.
"And what brings you to Baker Street, Lady Beatrice? Certainly you wouldn't want it getting out that you were seen entering a man's flat."
"Well, Mr. Holmes, given that my father's reputation precedes me everywhere I go, I hardly think one more minor scandal will do me any further harm."
Cumberbatch looked at Freeman. "Do you know Lady Beatrice's father, John? He has several mining interests in places where no one thought there was anything of interest. His admirers claim he could spin straw into gold. His detractors say he will stop at nothing to get what he wants..."
"And that only a madman or a moron could want him for a father-in-law," Lady Sybil shot back. "So, you must understand my lack of concern for my reputation."
"Okay," said Beatrice, "this is getting weird..."
The ginger girls turned just as John entered.
"Beatrice," said John, "what the hell are you doing here?"
"Moriarty said you'd been kidnapped."
"Moriarty? Beatrice, what are you talking about?"
"Is that Beatrice?," one of the girls questioned.
"Kate, keep quiet. What are you watching anyway?" John turned back to Beatrice. "Did you come all the way from Maine for that? I've obviously not been kidnapped. Why on Earth would you think that? Have you completely lost it?"
"No," said Beatrice.
"Look, Beatrice, I think you should leave."
"What?"
"Just go. Get out."
Beatrice suddenly found herself on the sidewalk wondering what the hell was happening.
"Excuse me!"
Beatrice looked around at the sound of a child's voice. She looked up to see one of the red-headed girls with her head out of the second-story window.
"Yes?," she called back.
"Are you Beatrice the Dark Princess?"
She looked around. Luckily, none of the passerby seemed to noticed.
"Your mummy and daddy are Beauty and the Beast?! And you have ice powers?!"
"Kate, was it?," she called back.
"I'm Chloe! Kate's my sister! Something's wrong with John!"
"You really think so?," she asked.
"Yes, he doesn't like apples anymore!" She paused. "Do you like apples?!"
"I've never had one."
Chloe looked at her questioningly.
"Evil Queen?," Beatrice called back.
Chloe turned away for a moment. She looked back.
"I have to go! Meet us at the park around the corner tomorrow! We go at four!"
Before Beatrice could argue with a child who wanted to meet her in a park, Chloe shut the window and disappeared.
"Okay," said Beatrice.
She guessed she was meeting some kids at the park tomorrow.
And she guessed she needed to watch the Sherlock Christmas special.
