Hello everyone! I'm back! I had a wonderful Thanksgiving break with my family back home, and just got off the bus back at school (due to an unforeseen road problem (which I napped through, so what exactly it was I don't know) my bus ride was, instead of it's usual six hours, seven and a half hours.
Well, it was an experience, and I managed to make pretty decent headway into my new book. So silver lining.
For my fellow Americans: happy belated Thanksgiving. For the Canadians: happy super belated Thanksgiving (by like a month I think?) and for the rest of you: insert appropriate holiday greeting here if appropriately timed.
Also- I should have some more time than usual during my finals insanity (which is coming up...now) for posting and writing since during the madness of Black Friday shopping I managed to get all but three people on my list done. The presents are sitting in my room at home, waiting for me to come back and wrap them (not gonna lie- wrapping paper is probably my favorite part)! So I won't be trying to figure out gifts and finals at the same time! Yay!
January 5, 2012
Ada stayed behind as she watched Emma slam the door to the bug shut and storm into the Mayor's office, ready to announce her running for the position of Sheriff. Turns out, the Mayor could appoint a candidate for Sheriff, no more.
Ada ran her hands along the roof of the bug, not sure where to go or what to do next. Now was definitely not the time to drag Emma to see how the Kindergarten class hadn't aged a day since Henry was five. Not with Emma still struggling with Graham's death. Not with Emma trying to beat Regina at her own game. Not with Gold being surprisingly and unusually helpful.
Ada would need to figure out his motives.
What did he want that Regina was keeping from him?
The least of many questions, for now.
Emma had told her about Henry- told her how the boy refused to have anything to do with Operation Cobra anymore, convinced Graham's death wasn't an accident.
Ada wasn't sure she could tell him otherwise right now.
She started walking towards Granny's- she needed to come up with a list. A to-do list. At the very least it would help her sort out the tangle of her thoughts.
Ada slid into her usual stool and ordered a coffee from one of the Lucas women, but was to distracted to note which one.
She sighed into the brew.
1. Make sure Henry was safe. That had to be the priority. Henry and his safety- both metal and physical. While she had no reason to yet believe he was in physical danger, she had every reason to believe he was in mental distress and had been since long before Graham's death. If no one but Henry was aging...god, she didn't want to think about it, but she needed to. For Henry.
2. Make sure Emma was safe. That would involve finding out Gold's motivations, and Ada wasn't sure how to even begin tackling the maze that was that man's actions and words. Gold could outmaneuver a tactical genius. Ada probably didn't stand a chance, but she could appreciate cleverness, and Gold seemed to get a twisted sense of enjoyment out of verbally sparring with her. She could use that to her advantage.
3. She needed to figure out a way to help Emma stay as Sheriff. Time for some campaigning. Now, Emma wouldn't go for a smear campaign, but that certainly wouldn't stop Ada. She'd whisper into whatever ears she could the full truth of Regina Mills, and point out that if Regina lost the Sheriff's department, then it was only a step away from her loosing the Mayor's office, and imagine what could be done then?
So. There was a to-do list. Ada figured she should take advantage of Gold's relative willingness to cooperate and use him to accomplish some, if not all, of her goals.
The only question was how.
Somehow, Ada got the feeling she was about to make a deal with the devil.
Hopefully whatever she got from the crossroads was worth her soul.
Rumpelstiltskin was amused. That was the only word for it. He rarely found himself genuinely amused nowadays. Often, his amusement was a sort of forced emotion. He was left in situations where he could either be amused, or furious, and in order to keep his head and thus gain his own ends, he forced himself into amusement. Rarely was he amused without any sort of force behind it.
Miss Ward was a delightful twist in the tale he was spinning here.
In many ways, the redhead was much more ruthless than her sister. Rumple wondered if it had something to do with being born and bred from the Land Without Magic. Miss Swan, for all her upbringing in this Realm, still had a touch of the Enchanted Forest about her- a bit of her parent's nature peeking out from beneath the harshness of the lack of nurture she'd experienced.
It was Miss Ward's ruthlessness that brought Rumpelstiltskin some genuine amusement today.
"I think we should bring to light some of Regina's transgressions, heavily documented for proof."
"And what transgressions has our dear Mayor committed?"
Ada was silent briefly, and Gold amused himself by noting just how uncomfortable she seemed to be in his presence. She seemed to have almost a sixth sense about the denizens of Storybrooke. She avoided Albert Spencer, himself and the Mayor whenever she could, at least. "Listen, you and I both know she's not a mother so much as someone playing with a toy doll. Now, emotional abuse isn't taken as seriously by society as physical abuse, but we can make people listen with the right sort of persuasion. We show Regina is an unfit mother, and voters won't be so keen to pick her candidate."
"With the added benefit of assisting your beloved sister if she should pursue a custody battle."
"I'd think you'd appreciate the use of one stone to kill two birds."
"Indeed," Rumple had to hold himself from releasing his signature giggle. Mr. Gold did not giggle. Rumpelstiltskin giggled with that malicious delight- not Mr. Gold. And he had to remain Mr. Gold for now.
"Now, you're clever, and you've stated that Regina is keeping something you want from you. I'd imagine any loss of power on her part is a furthering of your own goals as well as mine. I know we can get Archie Hopper to testify in our favor for a custody battle, but he won't betray doctor-patient confidentially to help us spread rumors here. Mary Margaret could be manipulated into saying a few things, but we all know she's too sweet to speak ill of anyone, so we can use her to reinforce, but she can't be the source of it all. I can't do it, I'll just be seen as trash talking someone for the sake of Emma. Emma won't do it, and probably shouldn't even know about this plan to begin with."
"So who does that leave us?"
"Well, you."
"And who would listen to me? I'm not exactly a popular figure around here, dearie."
"No, but you're not known to be allied with Emma and I- in fact, last anyone saw us interacting was our dispute over Alexandra."
"And how is the bundle of joy?"
"None of your business. If you go against Regina, it won't be seen as siding with us or even as a favor for us. But we need more. We need to arrange it so people witness things."
"Things?"
"Henry doesn't have any friends, Regina keeps him isolated. Regina also leaves him alone for hours at a time. He's ten, but he needs someone to at least check on him in case something happens. Also," Ada takes a deep breath, ready to lay this particular card on the table, "Regina couldn't have legally adopted Henry. He was born in Arizona, only a citizen of that state could've adopted him."
Gold grinned, "What a particularly interesting tidbit of information."
"You remember when Regina adopted him? Was there ever a home visit or anything? There should've been quite a lengthy process."
"No, not that I can recall."
Ada tried very hard not to hyperventilate at this new information.
"Don't worry, dearie- I'll make sure this rumor reaches the right ears."
Somehow, Ada felt this was probably the one thing she could trust Gold to do.
Rumpelstiltskin carefully watched a small flame, dancing from a lighter, as he contemplated his last visitor. Yes, Miss Ward was an interesting addition to the game. Without magic, he couldn't use his abilities to see the future, but he felt he'd had enough experience to make reasonable predictions. Miss Ward...she'd be useful. She might even speed up the timetable of things. Which, in Gold's opinion, was only for the better.
After all, the sooner Miss Swan broke the curse, the sooner he could leave town and find Bae.
Bae. His boy. The reason behind this all- Gold hadn't really done much, in the end. He'd just arranged that Regina had the skills to use the Dark Curse, and he'd made sure the Dark Curse was created according to his needs, and he'd ensured Snow and Charming fell in love and conceived in the right time for Emma to be the Savior. If he hadn't been around things would've played out much the same, he'd imagine. Regina would've done something other than the Dark Curse at hearing the news of Snow White's happiness, of course, but it would've been equally drastic (and probably equally doomed to fail- something Rumple couldn't help but notice was those with their True Love by their side rarely were knocked down for long). No, Rumple had just made sure that the future he had seen had played out to his advantage.
He would be reunited with his boy.
Miss Ward would see to that, ironically enough, by reuniting Miss Swan with her own boy.
Life was full of ironies when you looked at it with a bit of foreknowledge.
It was a shame about the Sheriff though- Gold had seen potential there. But, alas, Regina ended up (unintentionally, not that that was much comfort to Rumple) stymieing his plans with her little murder.
As the flame danced, keeping Gold's eyes in a sort of meditative daze (after all, he'd need to keep his wits about him more than ever- this close to his final goal), the bell above his door rung with a sort of angered fervor.
Well, one needn't guess wildly as to who was visiting him now.
Flicking the flame out, Gold stood as Regina slammed the door back shut, flipping the store sign to "Closed."
"Regina," he couldn't help but greet her with a smile. Yes, his day looked to be most amusing. "Shall I remove some things? Make a bit of space for your rage?"
Gold never could stand rage. Rage was blinding, and one should always keep a clear head. It was clear heads that kept you from promising "anything" when you didn't really mean it. Of course, Rumpelstiltskin took advantage of others' rage constantly. He considered it a sort of justice. If you were foolish enough to make a deal with him without thinking it through, you got what you deserved, as far as he was concerned. He rarely was overcome with his own rage, himself, and those first instincts brought by anger almost always cost him. Belle was a high price to pay for his anger.
"You found that loophole in the town carter," Regina accused as she stalked forward. Gold couldn't help but smirk. Talking with Regina was usually a fun exercise in pushing all the right buttons. A game of chess in a way.
He loved it.
Gold casually walked over to his cabinet, letting the Mayor know with his ease of movement that he was not intimidated by her. She never could stand when someone wasn't intimidated by her. It made her foolish. Reckless.
Those were two more traits Rumpelstiltskin gleefully took advantage of.
"Legal documents- contracts, if you like- always been a fascination of mine."
"Yes," the brunette woman kept her tone even, and Gold began plotting how to best ruin that composure, "You love to trifle with technicalities."
The Devil's in the details, Gold felt a sort of kinship with that particular phrase from this Realm. Little did Mayor Mills realize her downfall was written in the details. Her blindness would leave her unprepared for the fall.
Rumpelstiltskin wasn't terribly good at sympathizing with those who weren't as clever as him- he often wondered how others missed things that were, to his eyes, obvious.
He had no sympathy for Regina. She took Belle from him after all. Oh, it may have been Belle's father that killed her- but it was Regina that forced his hand into making Belle leave. He would never forgive himself for that. More importantly, he would never forgive Regina.
But Bae. It was all for Bae, in the end.
"I like small weapons, you see," he lectured the Mayor as he examined his cabinet, only appearing to give Regina half his attention. "The needle, the pen," he toyed with the Mayor by giving her a brief moment of his attention, turning to look at her for only a moment before turning away (she never could stand it when she wasn't the focal point of a room now- too used to being the head of the parade, having everything her way), "The fine point of a deal. Subtlety- not your style, I know."
"You're a bastard," she spat.
Really, if that was the best she could come up with- evidently he wasn't the only one who had lost their touch during twenty eight years of monotony. "I think your grief's getting the better of you, Regina" he chuckled, aiming to infuriate her further, "Shame, what happened to Graham." Having achieved his end, he now kept his eyes on her. Regina did, after all, have the occasional moment of unpredictability.
His barb hit home, "Don't you talk about him. You know nothing," her face lost some of her composure before she quickly brought it back. Gold reflected that, under the circumstances, Regina hardly was one to talk about knowing nothing about the Huntsman. Ironic, how she could so clearly grieve a man she herself killed. Of course, she loved the son she lied to and manipulated as well.
"What's there to know?" he said instead, "He died."
Regina leaned against his counter, attempting to hold his attention now she'd gained it. Gold fought a grin. "Are you really going up against me?"
"Not directly," he corrected, "We are, after all, both invested in the common good," that lie was almost too much for even him, but he continued on with only a pause, "We're just picking different sides."
"Well," Regina sniffed, "I think you picked a really slow horse this time. It's not like you to back a loser."
"She hasn't lost yet," Gold took great joy in reminding the Mayor.
"She will," Regina insisted. Though, whether she was trying to convince her old teacher or herself more was up for debate.
Rumple carefully considered his next attack before launching, "Never underestimate someone who's acting for their child."
"He's not her child. Not legally." Regina's reactions, while always predictable, were nevertheless entertaining.
By that definition, he's not yours either, Gold enjoyed the thought before deciding to keep that particular barb to himself. It never does to display all your cards in the first round.
It was perhaps a good thing she had never learned of her sister- the Mayor was not good at sharing.
"Oh, now who's trifling with technicalities?"
Gold took a moment to appreciate the look of pure rage on Regina's face.
Good to know he hadn't lost his touch.
January 6, 2012
School was hell, Henry had decided.
He'd heard people say before that children could be cruel, but he'd never really experienced it before himself. Most people were too terrified of being on the Mayor's bad side to pay any attention to him, cruel or otherwise.
Not so today.
The whispers, the stares, and the itchy feeling on the back of his neck that followed him around all day that told him they stared even more when his back was turned were slowly driving Henry insane.
Miss Blanchard picked up what was going on and tried her best- but there was only so much you could do against whispers children were repeating from their parents.
Henry felt nauseous and like he didn't fit in his own skin. He was, in short, miserable. And even though it would probably make her angry- he needed to see Emma.
He grabbed a paper for himself as he left school on his way to Granny's.
Ada was, admittedly, half asleep when Henry sat across from her in Granny's that afternoon. She had been up late working on strategy for achieving her three goals, and had slept till noon (one of the benefits of her being on leave from work since coming to Storybrooke- she could afford to have a lie-in), and didn't really notice the paper Henry had clutched in his hands. She had noticed when his "hey" was less than his usual enthusiastic greeting, but had chalked it up to Graham's death still hanging over the boy, along with his subsequent depression, and had gripped one of his hands, squeezing it briefly.
"Granny," she waved down the elderly woman, "Two hot chocolates with cinnamon, please, and another coffee for me."
Emma arrived just as Ada placed the order and quickly flopped herself beside Henry. The boy remained silent, toying with the paper.
"How was school?" Emma asked, smiling gratefully as Ruby placed a hot chocolate before her and her son before pouring more coffee into Ada's mug.
"Okay," Henry answered, his downcast tone not lost on either woman. Their eyes met briefly in silent conference. Emma attempted to probe slightly.
"You're reading that paper pretty hard," she commented, noting how Henry's gaze hadn't left the Mirror's latest edition.
"Sidney wrote it," he informed the women before flipping the paper over, making it's headline visible before placing it flat on the table, where both could see.
Ex-Jailbird - Emma Swan Birthed Babe Behind Bars
Ada was fairly certain she went speechless with rage at that moment.
Emma seemed to be in shock as she took the paper gently into her hands.
"Is it a lie?" Henry asked, his voice flat. Ada suddenly came down from her rage in less than a moment.
"C'mon- I think we should talk about this somewhere else," she suggested, rising from the table. She tossed the necessary bills down before herding mother and son towards her room at Granny's.
They all settled on the bed, Henry book-ended by the sisters as Emma clutched the paper and Ada draped an arm around his shoulders.
"It's not a lie," Emma confirmed as she gained her voice back, though her shock was easy to hear.
"I was born in jail?" Henry asked, his voice incredulous, but not filled with any sort of anger towards Emma, at least.
"Henry, you have to understand that life was very...different for Emma then," Ada stalled, not sure where to continue from that. How much to reveal? How much to keep back? He was, after all, only ten, and never should've found out this information to begin with. Ada felt another moment of blinding rage before it simmered back down. "She was a foster kid who had all the odds stacked against her, and she fell in with...anyways, the people she fell in with both in and out of the system were thieves, just to survive for many of them, and Emma learned how to survive like that, too.
"Like Robin Hood?" Henry, as ever, referenced it back to a story.
"Not quite so noble," Ada hesitantly replied, "More like...have you ever seen the movie Oliver and Company?"
"No," Henry shook his head.
"Oh, well, we should watch that some time," Ada had officially run out of steam, and Emma took her turn at the plate.
"These records were supposed to be sealed. Tell me you're not scarred for life are you?" she asked warily.
"I'm not," Henry assured the women, his voice still downcast despite his words, "Well, not by this."
"Good," Emma said, folding up the paper, "Then let's throw this out and get our news from somewhere more reliable. Like the internet," she joked half-heartedly, trying to make Henry smile.
"This is what I've been trying to tell you," Henry suddenly began, his words blending together as he expelled them in a rush as if to get them out where they no longer could fester inside him, "Good can't beat evil, because good doesn't do this kind of thing. My mom plays dirty – that's why you can't beat her. Ever."
"Henry," Ada sighed, rubbing her hand up and down his back gently. "Let's forget about Regina for a moment and talk about this. I'm sure you've got questions and, while we probably can't tell you everything, you do deserve some answers. And, while we're at it, I've got some questions, too."
"You didn't know about this?" he asked the redhead, surprised.
"No, I know about that," she gestured vaguely towards the newspaper, "But I want to know about you. What happened at school today? What with...this," she gave another vague wave towards the article.
"The other kids don't really talk with me to begin with," he told her, his eyes caught on his shoes as he kicked his feet against the bed-frame. "But I guess it was different today."
"Oh, god, kid," Emma sighed, "I'm sorry."
Henry shrugged, "It's not your fault. You said the records were sealed."
"They were," Ada muttered, "So Sydney broke the law to report them. Which...we can use against him."
"It won't make up for that article, though, will it?" Henry was the picture of dejection.
"Hey, don't count us out yet," Emma tried to cajole him, "I've got a new ally. Mr. Gold said he's going to help."
"Mr. Gold?" Henry asked incredulously, "He's even worse than she is. Ada already owes him a favor, you don't want to owe him one, too. Don't do this," he begged.
"Hey," Ada broke in, "Don't you give up hope, now," she fumbled for the right thing to say for a moment before deciding, "You've read the stories- you know how sometimes things seem hopeless for the heroes, how sometimes it seems like there's no way to win. Did you think Charming believed he was going to be able to slay that dragon when he first had to pretend to be his twin? Do you think Snow White didn't think the only choice for her was to escape the Kingdom, leaving her people to Regina's control? Do you think heroes never doubt themselves? Never wonder if it's all too hard- all too much? You know they do," Henry's eyes were on her now, hope slowly beginning to make a return, "But they never let themselves really lose hope, at least not for long. And what happens? They fight, they work hard, and they hold on long enough to come out on top. They slay the dragon; take back the kingdom; they let go of their doubt. Now, you say Emma's the Savior? Well, you're the one who brought her here. I'm pretty sure that makes you a hero, too."
"Can you hold onto hope?" Emma asked him, putting her arm around his shoulders as she gave him a small smile, "Just a little longer?"
Henry's spine straightened, his eyes began to sparkle again, and he smiled, "Yeah, I can do that."
Ada and Emma exchanged triumphant looks over his head.
Henry happily sipped on another hot chocolate liberally doused with cinnamon and whipped cream- the sympathy of the Lucas women was never given without food stuffs, and the part of the town worth knowing was giving full support to Henry. Whether or not that would extend to Emma had yet to be tested, but Ada and her sister stood side by side off to the side as Henry enjoyed the first beginnings of his depression lifting.
"It's not perfect, but I think we've got him out of it for a little while at least," Ada commented to Emma, her eyes never wavering from the boy, "We've bought some time."
"I can't believe she crossed that line- hurting Henry," Emma trailed off.
"But she's been hurting him," Ada pointed out, "Leaving him isolated; leaving him home alone for hours at a time; that whole mess with Archie. Those two whole messes with Archie. Coming after you like that- it's an attack to Henry. We're the adults, we have to show him how to act, and she's not giving him a good example to follow."
"I can't leave him to her any longer, can I?"
"I would say not."
"I guess-"
"I've already started getting evidence together for a custody battle," Ada cut Emma off, having known where this was all leading weeks ago. "I may owe Gold a favor, but he seems to be in a strangely happy mood lately and I've been taking advantage of it. I can get him to help with this. He's the only lawyer worth using."
"He'll play dirty."
"I don't care. As long as Henry ends up safe. I'll call in every favor I have if I have to."
"Well, then, I guess we're attacking from all sides now."
"Pretty much."
"I think I need to go have a chat with Madame Mayor," Emma grimly said, gripping the newspaper she still had in her hand.
"Don't show all our cards yet, please. Keep the custody battle to yourself until we've got all our ducks in a row."
"I will. I'm just going to have a discussion about looking out for Henry."
"You're wasting your breath," Ada warned.
"Well," Emma returned, starting towards the door, "At least yelling will make me feel better."
"This was a juvie record," Emma began without preamble, "This was sealed by court order. I don't know how you got it, but that's an abuse of power and illegal."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Regina continued to close up her office for the day, unruffled, "You didn't want people to know you cut his cord with a shiv?"
Emma couldn't believe how obtuse the woman was being- she certainly hoped Regina hadn't talked like that in front of Henry. "I don't care what people know, but this hurts Henry."
"He would've learned eventually," Regina disregarded the concern with a wave of her hand, "We all lose our heroes at some point." As the Mayor exited her office, Emma followed, not nearly done yet.
"He doesn't need to lose anything more. He's depressed, Madame Mayor," she couldn't believe Regina hadn't noticed- she had to have noticed- but Emma pushed on, "He doesn't have any...any hope. Don't you see that?"
"He's fine," the brunette easily replied as she switched off the building's lights.
"He's not fine," Emma insisted, "I mean, think about it. Watching his adoptive mother throw an illegal smear campaign against his birth mother? You don't think that would be upsetting?"
"All I did was expose him to the truth," Regina answered evenly before pivoting on her heels to look Emma dead in the eye, her expression completely calm and composed, "And as for the legality- I did nothing wrong. But you and Sidney will have a chance to get into all that at the debate."
"Debate?" Emma's head spun from the change in topic.
"Yes, Miss Swan, there's a debate," Regina replied, almost pityingly, as if Emma were a silly child who had asked a very stupid question. Regina moved for the stairs, and Emma followed, "You two can talk about jail time and juvie records and maybe even your new association with Mr. Gold. He's a snake, Miss Swan. You need to be careful who you get into bed with."
"I'm not getting into bed with anyone," Emma returned, still wondering when they had gotten off the subject of Henry's mental health. Regina reached for the doorknob to exit, "I'm just fighting fire with-" but her sentence was never finished as Regina opened the door, unknowingly setting off an explosion, setting the room on fire. Both women were thrown back in the blast, the Mayor injured by the debris and both coughing from the smoke. Emma freed the Mayor, moving quickly, "Alright, come on," she ordered, taking charge, "Let's go! We got to get out of here," she started up the stairs.
"I can't move!" Regina shouted, "You have to get me out. Help me!" she held up a hand towards Emma, her eyes wide and frightened. It was strange, Emma had time to wonder, that look in Regina's eyes. It was as if she sincerely wasn't sure Emma would save her life, after everything she'd done. Emma had time to wonder if that was because, had the situation been reversed, Regina probably would've left her to burn.
Whew, so there's that. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! What'd you think?
Some housekeeping: poll's still up, though I'll admit to leaning pretty heavily towards Robin Hood at this point. I'm writing scenes with both pairings and the Roba scenes are flowing really well. I think it might have something to do with reading Can't-Escape-My-Fandoms' Broken Souls Mend Hearts- it's got a Jefferson/Ruby pairing that I can't get out of my head. The poll will probably be taken down soon since I'm coming pretty close to a decision. But don't let that stop you from messaging me! It's honestly one of the best parts of writing here. I love talking with you guys. Even when it gets super lengthy. :D Ok- especially when it gets super lengthy.
