Well, I'm pretty far along in my upcoming chapters, so here's a treat for you all: a chapter posted the day after the last update! Whoo!

Here we have the beginning of the episode "Desperate Souls." I've written the whole episode already, and I'll tell you now: it's another long one. Three chapters. I kind of get into Gold's head at several points and he's a wordy bastard. Housekeeping news: poll's still up, it's still pretty close, though I'm sort of leaning towards Robin Hood myself now. Tough to tell. I'm trying to write scenes for each pairing and see how they flow for me and so far I'm finding it easiest with Robin. Time will tell, though.

11/29/22 Edit: Still not much ultimately changed from the OG version of Not So Evil- but I am feeling better cleaning things up.


January 4, 2012

Ada slowly flipped through Henry's school photos. It had been two weeks since she had gotten them, but Ada hadn't been able to really bring herself to do anything about the oddness around Storybrooke. Not after Graham's death.

It wasn't like the Sheriff and she were particularly close- she had talked to him perhaps a handful of times, gotten to know him because he was Emma's boss and, as time had progressed, because Emma so obviously had liked him. The entire time she had spoken with him in the Sheriff's Station his eyes had kept darting to Emma and Ada figured half the time because it was nerves (the Sheriff was a smart enough man to know when he was being interviewed for suitability and smart enough to know the consequences would be dire with the wrong answer) and the other half it was just...to look at Emma. Even when the two had been working at their desks in silence, Ada would walk in and find Graham's eyes jumping to Emma every so often.

It was as if he couldn't quite believe she was there sometimes.

Emma had been a mess. Not that anyone else would've known, Emma hid carefully behind her walls as she grieved, not willing to give people more to hurt her with. Ada knew that instinct and shared it. But the two girls would hole up in Ada's room at Granny's or Mary Margaret's apartment and grieve.

No, Ada wasn't particularly close with the Sheriff, but she grieved him.

He would've stayed, if he could.

The funeral was...wrong. It felt so strange to stand there in her black dress, one hand clasped tightly with Emma's, hidden in the folds of her skirt until the public would be gone. Henry had stood with the Mayor towards the front, and Emma and Ada had hung back.

What felt particularly strange was watching the Mayor give Graham's eulogy.

Ada found it tasteless; Emma was past the point of caring.

They had retreated to the bug and then returned to the gravesite after everyone else had left, holding their own sort of ceremony.

And now here they were, two weeks later, Emma at work, Ada curled up at Granny's, flipping through photos that documented Henry growing up.

Henry never had the same classmates.

Each photo, every face but Henry's was new- no kid from First followed with Henry into his Second Grade class. Ada realized that they might switch classes around- but surely at least one kid would show up twice in Henry's class? But no- even when Ada tried to see if she could find a kid having skipped a year or two and then rejoined in Henry's class- no child seemed to repeat.

She felt a slight chill go up her spine.

Ada had a school to get to.


Emma held Graham's old walkie talkies in her hands, her heart squeezing a bit as she saw the box containing all Graham's possessions in the corner of her eye.

"That's the thing about children," Gold continued, sound more sincere than she had ever previously heard the pawnbroker, "Before you know it, you lose them."


Ada managed to get into the school easily- she went looking for Mary Margaret right away. The woman was in her classroom- getting some work done during recess as it was some other teacher's turn to chaperone today. Ada had no intention of having Mary Margaret know about the pictures and the eerie conclusions they helped Ada draw. Instead, she'd delay her presence in the school by chatting with the teacher about whatever excuse Ada could possibly find (she had a sinking feeling she'd have to talk about Emma and how she was dealing with Graham's death- the method being she wasn't) until Ada could step out and take a couple looks at the classrooms.

If the kids in Henry's pictures were still the same age as when those pictures had been taken, despite Henry's obvious growth...

Ada wasn't quite sure what she'd do then- she was sort of making this up as she went.

"Oh, Ada," Mary Margaret gave a sweet smile as the redhead walked into the classroom. Ada was suddenly thrust back into the memory of the first time she had come here- looking for Henry with the Mayor, Graham, and Emma. Mary Margaret had been the one to direct them to Henry's castle. "How are you? What brings you here?"

Ada's not entirely certain her half of the conversation for the next fifteen minutes was at all coherent. She had a feeling she had at one point mentioned something about the tv show Grey's Anatomy (which she didn't even watch). But, finally, blissfully, the bell rang, signaling part two of Ada's plan in the school today. She bid a distracted goodbye to Mary Margaret, who looked a bit confused and concerned, and wandered into the hallway, photographs clutched tightly in her hand.

First she watched the Kindergartners file into their classroom.

Then she saw the Second Graders.

The First Graders were at the other end of the hall, so she could barely see them.

But those Kindergartners were right next to Mary Margaret's classroom, and even as she gave a distracted wave to Henry, who seemed unusually subdued, Ada could hear her heartbeat in her ears rushing and drowning out all other sounds.

Those were the same kids Henry had gone to Kindergarten with five years ago.


Henry sat at the top of his castle and tried very hard not to cry. He hadn't cried since the night of Graham's funeral when he cried himself to sleep like a baby (as quietly as he could- he didn't want her to come in and check on him). But it was hard to hold back the tears, even for a ten-year-old, at the realization that the woman who he called "mom" was a murderer. He had read the book, but up until Graham...it had been a story. A story he believed, but it was still just words on paper. Graham's death was very real.

And Henry desperately didn't want anyone else to die. She had all the power here, he realized that now- no other adult believed in the curse and she had set it up so that this was her happy ending, this was her domain to do as she pleased.

Even kill.

Henry didn't want to go to another funeral. Graham's had been his first. Of course, with everyone never aging, never changing, before Emma arrived, the amount of people who died in Storybrooke had been...zero.

He had to stop trying to get Emma to break the curse. He didn't want to go to another funeral- not Miss Blanchard's, not Mr. Nolan's, not Emma's or Ada's and those were all possible if he kept pushing. If he kept fighting her.

Best to just let her have what she wanted.

Emma sat next to him, holding walkie talkies in her hand. Henry had always wanted a set, but he didn't exactly have another person he could use them with. Now he did, but he dared not let her know.

"Brought you something," Emma told him, a slight smile on her face. Henry felt the familiar warmth he got whenever he realized Emma smiled whenever she so much as saw him. That warmth was gone with her next words, though, "Thought we could use them for Operation Cobra."

"Thanks," he said, trying not to be rude. Emma gave him a little nudge with her shoulder, letting him know she had noticed something was wrong.

"Oh, come on- what's up? You've been ducking me for weeks."

I don't want her to kill you, too. "I think we should drop the Cobra stuff for a while," he told her instead, not wanting to get her even more worried. If she got worried, she'd stay nearby, and if she stayed nearby, then she would get angry. There would be no telling what happened then. Henry'd rather not take the risk. "You don't play with the Curse. Look what happened to Graham."

"Henry," Emma sighed a little, leaning forward to try and get a good look at his face, "I told you they did an autopsy. It was totally natural causes."

Everyone kept saying Graham had died of a heart attack.

But Henry was not stupid- he was clever enough to figure out the curse and he was clever enough to figure out this.

Heart attack? Yes, something attacked Graham's heart- but it was Regina Mills, not some weird medical condition.

"Okay, whatever! You don't believe?" his voice was getting all wobbly, and he tried to control it but that only seemed to make his voice get louder, "Good. That should keep you from messing with it. And getting killed."

"You're worried about me?" Emma asked, and Henry couldn't help but notice how she sounded sort of surprised.

"She killed Graham because he was good," Henry tried to hold back the tears. He was ten and he had figured out the curse on his own while under the Evil Queen's watch- he was not a baby who needed everything fixed for him. He turned to Emma- the Savior but, more importantly, his real mom, the one who loved him enough to do whatever it took to do what was right. The one who was surprised that he worried about her and always smiled when she saw him and never wanted him to be alone. "And you're good."

"Henry," Emma began, finding herself lost for words. She tried to think what Ada would have her say in this situation.

"Good loses," Henry continued, getting more and more visibly upset, "Good always loses. Because good has to play fair. Evil doesn't. She's evil," his voice went quiet, as if resigned, "This is probably best. I don't want to upset her any more." I don't want to go to another funeral.

With that, Henry put the walkie back in Emma's hands and left the castle. Emma sat there for awhile, trying to figure out how to fix things. Henry was worried about her? While that felt nice (when was the last time someone besides Ada was worried for her?) Emma needed to show Henry that he didn't need to worry about her- it was, after all, her job to worry about him. She couldn't stop Henry from feeling that way, but she could talk to him, calm him down, maybe give him a little comfort. The kid was obviously heartbroken at Graham's death and scared.

Emma had never been a parent. She had never seen examples of good parenting. But, she figured, she knew everything that you could possibly do wrong to a child, and for the rest she'd ask Ada for help.

She'd do the best she could do.


Emma gently picked up Graham's badge. The Sheriff badge. Gold had pointed out to her that after two weeks, the promotion was automatic.

Emma was beginning to hate that word: promotion. It was just another word for "Graham's gone."

Gathering her courage, she began to clip the badge to her belt, but was interrupted by Mayor Mills, "Oh, I'm sorry- That's not for you."

"It's been two weeks," Emma reminded her, ready for Regina to begin her hissy fit anytime now, "Promotion is automatic."

"Unless the mayor appoints someone else within the time period," Regina countered, "Which I'm doing today."

Emma wondered briefly why it had taken Regina this long to get around to kicking her out of her station, but figured the Mayor had probably waited to the last minute to make it all the more painful- wait until Emma thought it was safe, and then swoop in and take it all. "So who's it gonna be?" Emma asked.

Regina seemed pleased at Emma's lack of fight, "After due reflection: Sidney Glass."

Emma couldn't help but raise her voice slightly. Graham wouldn't have wanted this. "Sidney from the newspaper? How does that even make sense?"

"Well, he's covered the Sheriff's office for as long as anyone can remember," Regina casually stated.

Emma realized the real reason quickly, "And he'll do whatever you want him to," she muttered. "You just cannot stand the fact that things have been getting better around here, can you?"

Regina was quick with the coming barb, "Better? Are you referring to Graham's death as "better"?"

Emma's voice was tight and low in effort, "No."

Regina began her performance, raising her voice, "He was a good man, Miss Swan. He made this town safe. And, forgive me for saying this, you have not earned the right of wearing his badge."

"Graham picked me to be deputy," Emma pointed out.

"He was wrong."

"No," Emma countered, feeling anger simmering in her, feeling the urge to just punch the Mayor for daring to talk about Graham like she knew him at all- like she knew who he really was. For daring to question Graham's choices. "He knew what he was doing. He freed this office from your leash. You're not getting it back."

"Actually - I just did. Miss Swan, you're fired," with that final pronouncement, she took the Sheriff's badge and swept out of the station.

Emma felt the beginnings of tears sting her eyes but refused to let them manifest.

So the Mayor wanted to fight her on this? Fine. She'd get a fight.


Ada and Emma had taken over Mary Margaret's kitchen. Loud music blared over the radio as Emma struggled with the toaster angrily and Ada poured them both another glass of scotch.

The teacher entered to find this scene and quickly turned off the radio.

"Toaster broken?" she casually asked Emma.

"Wasn't when I started with it," Emma grunted, giving up on the offending appliance, "Pretty sure it is now. I just needed to hit something."

"We'll get you a new one," Ada promised her from the table were she sipped her glass. Emma went to join her there, taking the scotch Ada held out for her wordlessly.

"What's going on?" Mary Margaret asked, not entire sure she wanted to know.

"Regina fired me so she can put one of her own puppets in as Sheriff. That's my job!" Emma looked seconds away from chucking her glass at the wall. Ada wisely pulled the bottle out of the blonde's reach.

"Also, I've had a disturbing realization that I'm trying to keep myself in denial about because...well, disturbing," Ada confessed.

"I've never heard you so passionate about your job before, Emma," Mary Margaret decided to tackle one problem at a time. Emma seemed to be closer to mass destruction, so that would be first. Ada just seemed in shock, so that could wait.

"Oh, I just know I want it back," Emma snarled. Mary Margaret was sure something about this had to do with Graham. But she hadn't been sure how to deal with Emma and her grief beyond making sure Ada was around. Mary Margaret was beginning to feel a bit at loose ends.

"There must be a reason," she prompted, trying to get Emma to open up a tad- keeping it all inside had, doubtless, led to the destruction of the toaster.

"Maybe," Emma began, before a knocking at the door interrupted the three women. Ada remained still, her eyes unfocused as she spilled the scotch. "I just want to beat her," Emma said, standing up and getting the door.

It swung open to reveal Mr. Gold. "Good evening, Miss Swan," he said in his smoothest voice, "Sorry for the intrusion- there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Mary Margaret tapped Ada lightly on the shoulder, and the redhead turned to view Gold, having already guess it was him by the typical prickings that accompanied his presence. "I'll leave you three to talk," Mary Margaret said, retreating to her room. There was no point in getting Ada to move.

"Come on in," Emma invited, opening the door wider for Gold to enter. He spotted Ada, "Miss Ward."

She gave him a slight nod in return.

The trio sat down at Mary Margaret's table; Ada's eyes now glued to Gold as if examining him for a lie. Gold always seemed to know more than he let on, and Ada wanted to know how far that knowledge went.

"I- I heard about what happened," Gold began, smoothing his hands over the head of his cane, "Such an injustice."

"Yeah," Emma shrugged, "What's done is done."

Ada watched as Gold gave a small quirk of the lips before he sarcastically replied, "Spoken like a true fighter."

"Sometimes you have to pick your battles," Ada countered, "We've lost this one, time to make sure we win the next."

"Ah, but it's not quite over yet. Three people with a common goal can accomplish many things," Gold smiled at the two women before elaborating, "Three people with a common enemy can accomplish many more."

"Why is the Mayor your enemy?" Ada asked.

"Let's just say," Gold grinned at the redhead, "She's in the way of me getting what I want."

"And what do you want?" Emma asked.

"That, dearie," he countered, "Is for me to know. What you need to know is: how would you like a benefactor?"

"A benefactor?" Emma repeated, not sure where this was going.

"You know," Gold mused aloud, his shrewd eyes looking off in the distance, "It's amazing how few people study the town charter."

Ada's head tilted, her curiosity spiked. "And what does the town charter say about this particular situation?" she asked.

Gold gave a grin that would've sent a chill up Ada's spine had her prickings still not been going off at Gold's vicinity. She was wary, but Gold was, doubtless, a powerful ally to have against the Mayor. He seemed to be the only one in town who could get what he wanted from the woman with barely a fight. That implied some power.

"It's quite comprehensive on the Mayor's authority. Or maybe she is not quite as powerful as she seems."


"Mr. Gold!" Ada shouted, running after the man who had just exited Mary Margaret's apartment.

"Miss Ward," the pawnbroker pivoted towards her, placing both hands on his cane as he leaned slightly forward to brace himself on it. "What can I do for you?"

"I get the feeling you know a lot more than you let on," she said, pulling out Henry's Kindergarten class picture and holding it in front of him, "You want to tell me something about this?"

"It appears to be an old class photo of young Henry, very charming," he grinned at her.

Ada shook her head, "I mean about how, aside from Henry, none of these kids have aged since this photo was taken. They were still in the Kindergarten class when I had gone to the school the other day."

"Oh, I think it's been quite a bit longer than since that photo was taken. And what were you doing at the school?"

"Checking a theory, which leads me to you- the only person who seems to be successful in getting Mayor Mills do to what you want. Odd, isn't in? That a pawnbroker has so much power over the Mayor."

"I think we can agree," Gold leaned a little closer, almost whispering now, "That I am more than a pawnbroker."

"Yes," Ada's voice was flat, "But the question is- just who are you?"

Gold grinned and leaned away, his voice returning to normal levels, "Let's just agree, Miss Ward, that when it's all over- you remember who helped your sister and to whom you owe a favor."


And that's the end of "Desperate Souls" part 1! Whew. Ada and Gold's POVs of each other actually kind of amuse me we'll see a lot of that in the upcoming two chapters. Watching those two trying to outsmart each other is going to be quite entertaining. I'll tell you this right now- Ada's going to have a sort of weird relationship with Gold. She's a big fan of cleverness, and Gold's pretty crafty. She'll have a sort of respect for his intelligence while also disliking his actions quite a lot, I tried to hint at that when I wrote her thoughts on the storybook. It's going to be a bit awkward for Ada, cuz Gold'll do something and she'll kind of sit there like: "Oh, god, that's smart. I'm impressed despite myself." and everyone else will be wondering "What the hell is wrong with you? That's terrible." And, of course, Ada will think it's an absolutely horrible thing to do, but she can't help but be impressed with the intelligence behind it all. It's a...respect/hate relationship. But out of all the villains, Ada's going to want Gold on her side most of all. She'll think he's the greater asset so she'll probably be pretty invested in converting him to the good guys. Regina's kind of pure anger and hate as far as Ada can see, and Hook...she'll be suspicious of his intentions towards Emma, so she'll probably be spending the most amount of time with Gold among those three. Should be interesting.

Don't forget to keep voting and messaging me your thoughts! Please, drop a review while you're here!

11/29/22 Edit: It's interesting to me, to know that (in the early version of Rumple at least) his motivations and Ada's motivations are very similar. They are all motivated very strongly by their emotions tied to individuals they consider family- for Rumple it's Bae and Belle, and for Ada it's Emma and Henry. Ada doesn't have the power of the Dark One, so it's not as readily apparent, but she's a character who I think would be very easy to turn dark at the end of the day. Emma has a very strong morality about things, but Ada? If killing someone who she considers to be a bad person is the best way to protect Emma or Henry? She'd probably do it. Emma wants to do what's right, Ada wants to do what's best for the people she loves. All of that will come into play, and a lot of how similar their motivations are will play into how Ada relates to Rumple. Ada's going to be more inclined to align herself with Rumple when she feels it will benefit her, because his motivations are something she can easily understand.