Ashley's hands shook as she pushed the broom across the floor.
It wasn't supposed to work. The mirror she brought from her her old house in the Enchanted Forest should not have had any magical properties to it. Yet when she reached home, there was a message waiting for her, from the last person she ever expected or desired to see again. And this person had demanded of her something that she dare not give. Didn't she know how dangerous it was, Evil Queen or no Evil Queen? Not to mention that these people trusted her; how could she betray them like this?
"Hey," said a kind voice, "are you okay?"
Ashley glanced over to where Emma was just finishing her after-breakfast cup of coffee. The Sheriff watched her over the rim of the mug as she drank. Sometimes Ashley appreciated Emma's skill and tenacity as sheriff-other times she resented it.
"Yes, I'm fine." Ashley gave the pat response in a measured tone. She'd managed not to react when Thomas had caught her sitting petrified at the vanity after the message ended. I mean, what could her stepsister actually do to her if she didn't comply? Ashley shook her head; she could not imagine ever ignoring a request, not even from her step-family literally a world away. She straightened her shoulders and marched out of the diner resolutely.
Emma Swann watched this whole performance without the slightest inkling of what brought it on. There was something definitely odd about the way Ashley had been acting lately. Emma couldn't tell if it was pressure from her family (whatever family she had here) or just the overall pressure of the new gang in town. Emma drained the last of her coffee, waved goodbye to Ruby and departed for her office.
To think that Alice from almost two hundred years ago should end up here with an ex-genie, hotly pursued by an evil sorcerer—Emma rolled her eyes; only in storybooks, one might say... but Emma knew better.
"Only in Storybrooke," she muttered to herself.
Ashley was just coming out of Maurice's flower shop at the end of the block. Once again, Emma felt that strange sensation of—something. She casually walked a fair distance behind Ashley, keeping her in sight while never looking directly at her. The modest cottage she and Thomas shared was back the other direction, she knew, so where could Ashley possibly be going?
Emma saw her round the corner right under the sign advertising Gold's pawn shop. Emma couldn't believe it; hadn't she done enough, getting Ashley out of the other deal? Was there another she didn't know about, or was this a new one? Emma strode quickly forward till she reached the store. It looked dark and quiet inside, and when Emma tried the knob, it was locked. Curious, Emma continued around the corner.
"Whoops!"
In a tangle of arms, Emma stumbled backward as she nearly bowled somebody over. That somebody turned out to be Mayor Regina Mills, who glared icily at her while she straightened her severe suit jacket and hair.
"Sorry," muttered Emma. Ashley was nowhere in sight.
"Going somewhere, Sheriff?" Regina snarled suspiciously.
Emma studied the woman. "No, just trying to keep Storybrooke safe," she retorted.
"By killing off its number-one enemy?" Regina snorted. "Thanks a lot!"
Emma tilted an eyebrow. "Your words," she shrugged, "not mine; anyway, did you see Ashley pass this way?"
"Ashley? No," answered Regina. "Why, did you catch her acting suspicious, too?"
Emma shrugged, trying to figure out if the behavior she'd witnessed was guilt or just the young woman's natural temerity. "Just trying to keep tabs on who's playing whose side," she hinted not-so-subtly.
"Seriously?" Regina raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Have you been focusing on the real problem—like the sorcerer holed up in city hall?"
Emma glanced in that direction. "I'm still trying to figure that one out."
"Meanwhile, I've been helping the happy couple," Regina snapped.
"You?" Now it was Emma's turn for skepticism. "Helping them?"
Regina smiled smugly. "I got them into city hall, and they found something that will defeat him."
Her comment clarified the mystery of her involvement for Emma. At last she understood: as long as Jafar was here, Regina was not the most powerful person. She wanted Jafar gone—so why not just hand them over and be done with it? Suspicion toward Ashley reared its ugly head again. There had to be something from her past that was making her so worried; Emma hadn't seen her this much on edge since Gold tried to lay claim to her baby, now a pretty one-year-old girl named Allie. Did it have something to do with Jafar, perhaps?
"That's fortunate," Emma muttered absently. "I guess I might stop by city hall and see what the old snake is up to."
"You do that," Regina smirked. "And next time, Sheriff... Watch where you're going."
Emma rolled her eyes and briskly crossed the street.
Within City Hall, Jafar glared menacingly at his staff. Something prevented him from touching it anymore; every time he tried, an invisible force pushed back. Frustrated, he found a tall display case with a very secure lock. Working quickly, he put all his strength into wrestling the staff inside and locking it tight. If he could no longer use his staff, there had to be no way that anyone else would be able to use it, either.
He stared at the golden eyes behind the glass.
"Well now, is that any way to treat a former protege?" He murmured. "Looks like we're just going to have to let you cool off for the time being. Meanwhile," he turned to the door. "I have a genie to catch."
He stepped out of the wide doors and into the plaza. A couple people eyed him warily, but Jafar had deigned to trade his ornate Persian robe for clothes a bit more current to this day and age. He was an anomaly because he was new, not because he was any kind of scary sorcerer. He walked on in complete confidence and no one glanced his way twice.
Meanwhile, at city hall, two black-clad figures snuck out of the bushes surrounding the building and into a window that had been left open. Minutes later, they emerged again, one of them bearing a long bronze object.
The pair scampered across the street to Marine Garage, where Trent Anderson closed the door behind them.
Alice and Cyrus removed their masks and sighed with relief. Cyrus looked down at the staff in his hand. The eyes, which normally glowed red, were black and cold. He glanced up at Alice.
"Are you ready to do this?" She asked.
He nodded. "Let's go."
Trent watched out the window where Matt Tillman worked on a car at a prime vantage point for monitoring the main road. As he worked, he carefully transferred the radiator cap from the left side of the car, where he'd set it, to the right.
Trent nodded to the couple. "You're clear."
Swiftly, Alice and Cyrus shot out of the door and down the sidewalk to the pawn shop.
Mr. Gold met them near the front door. He took one glance at the staff and knew exactly what they needed.
"What are you expecting to do with that?" He asked stiffly.
Cyrus held the staff carefully upright. "Jafar has trapped my mother's essence inside this staff. I want you to free her."
Gold examined the staff. The dark energy within him sensed the latent magic within the staff. He did not doubt that his little book of spells contained something for the releasing of a trapped soul. He met the gaze of Cyrus.
"It's going to take a while, and there could very well be a great cost for this kind of magic."
Cyrus did not flinch. "I will pay whatever cost there is. She has paid the price for my foolishness once already; I am ready to take responsibility for my own choices, and let Fate take its own course."
Gold nodded, accepting the bargain. "I'll see what I can do," he promised.