Regina arrived at the large white mansion, but something still felt out of place. Emma's suspicions of her meant nothing; that woman would always have trouble believing Regina was anything short of a witch. The heart—Will's heart, and the last thing Jafar needed to enact whatever terrible vengeance he had planned—was safely stowed...

Wasn't it?

Regina crossed the house and left by the back door, headed for the Mausoleum.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the hooded figure sneaking through the woods beyond her. What would Ashley want the heart for? Was she working with Jafar? What could he possibly use on the virtuous girl to convince her to help him? Regina steeled herself and marched straight for the snooping woman.

Ashley was peering so intently in the other direction that when she tired around she smacked straight into Regina.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry!"

They were within sight of the Mausoleum, but Regina hid the fact that she knew.

"What are you doing here?" She asked through clenched teeth.

Ashley looked a little frightened, but she recovered quickly and said, "Allie wanted to go to the park—"

"So you brought her to the cemetery instead?" Regina sneered, nodding toward the field of tombstones yonder.

"Mommy!" A high voice cried, and a little girl with blonde curls just like her mother bounded toward them. "I counted, Mommy, and I found you!"

Ashley looked every bit as embarrassed as a young mother should. "I'm sorry, Regina; we were on our way home, and Allie decided she wanted to play hide and seek. I tried to get her to come back but she wouldn't." Ashley grabbed her daughter's hand and gave it a squeeze. "We're going home now, right?"

Allie grinned shyly and ducked behind her mother's leg.

Regina squinted shrewdly, but she had no reason to believe Ashley had any interest in the matter at hand.

Ashley continued on her way, while Regina made straight for the Mausoleum.

The door was still bolted shut. Regina pulled out her key and inserted it. The room was still and covered with dust—except one corner of the crypt. Regina bent close to inspect. It was no trick of the light; there had definitely been disturbance since the last time she had visited. Regina shifted the lid to the side, uncovering the hidden staircase.

Down in the vault, she studied the carefully-positioned magical items, but not even the cobwebs had broken. Regina sighed with relief. On a whim, she checked the box where she had hidden the Knave's heart.

Empty.

With a scowl, Regina shoved the box closed. She had done it! How had she taken the heart? Why? She almost replaced the empty box, but that phone message from Jafar came to mind. He wanted the heart, and he was so full of his own importance that he thought she was the sort of woman to jump at the chance to do the bidding of such a powerful entity as himself. Perhaps Ashley's little trick could work out for her advantage. Regina smiled to herself as she brought the box with her out of the vault.

Further in town, Ashley left the napping Allie and crept to her room. The coat she had worn on the walk lay crumpled on the edge of her bed. Her hands trembled as she reached under it and pulled out a small square box, not unlike the ones used by the Queen of Hearts, only more rough-hewn. Inside, a glowing red heart pulsed gently.

The mirror on her wall wavered. Ashley's own heart beat almost double-time to the one in her hands. Shutting her eyes tightly to close out the accusing voices in her mind, she held her breath and shoved that box through the reflective surface of the mirror. When she stepped back, it was just a mirror again. Ashley sighed with relief and left the room without glancing over her shoulder.

Jafar was deep in the frustration of the fool's errand Regina had taken him on. She had shown him every inch of that infernal town, all under the guise of bringing him to the only place he wanted to go: the place where she said the Queen of Hearts kept her storage of removed hearts. Of course, then he had realized this was all a ploy to keep him occupied so two strangers could break into his fortress and—do what?

The only things that had been disturbed were his own doing.

Jafar glowered at the crystal ball he'd purchased from Mr. Gold. Without the heart he could not see into this other world to find the genie he wanted—but what guarantee did he have that the Madam Mayor got his message?

The telephone rang. Jafar lifted the receiver.

"Hello, Jafar; this is Regina."

"Ah, Madam Mayor," he murmured. "I assume this is about the item I requested?"

"Yes," she answered. Women were the same, no matter what world they came from: power was an irresistible motivator. "But we have a problem."

Jafar frowned. "What is it?"

"The item you asked for," she guarded her words as much as he did, "is gone. Someone has stolen it from me."

"What?" Jafar roared, starting up so fast that he nearly dropped ye receiver. "You had better not be lying to me! If this is some sort of trick—"

"It is no trick. I left the evidence for you, on the doorstep."

Jafar kept the receiver to his ear as he moved to the front doors of City Hall. As she had promised, there in front of the door sat a small wooden box—just the right size for holding a human heart. It stood empty.

"Who else knows about this?"

"Jafar, not many people can get into my vault without keys. Whoever this is must have guessed you needed it."

The sorcerer recalled the only other person who could have known the connection between Jafar and the Knave. Jafar did not doubt that this person also had a knack for getting through locked doors without the use of keys. Could he have also been the one to allow the mysterious intruders into City Hall?

"I believe I know who might be responsible for the theft," Jafar mused. "Thank you for your attempts to assist me. When I have achieved my ends, rest assured I will see that you will receive some benefit from it."

"That is very generous of you," said she. "I hope you can bring this person to justice."

"Trust me," growled Jafar, "it will be my pleasure." He replaced the receiver to end the call.

Mr. Gold was waiting patiently in his shop when Jafar arrived—exactly as if he had been expecting the sorcerer to come.

"Ah," said the antiques dealer, "how goes your search for that genie?"

Jafar would have attempted to melt him on the spot, in spite of knowing how fruitless that would be with so much magic blocking his own. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing!" He seethed. "Give me the heart or I swear—"

"Careful now," Gold said with a slow shake of his head. "Insulting and threatening a wizard on his own turf is risky business indeed. You know that I have only ever been helpful to you. Now, you mentioned something about a heart? I am sorry, I don't deal in such things; but you know that the mayor has an entire room full of hearts."

"Oh, so you know about the Vault?" Jafar smiled smugly. "I find it hard to believe you were not the one to steal from her, since I happen to know that you were the one who taught her mother how to do it."

Rumplestiltskin shrugged. "Let's just say I've found new ways to get what I want."

"So do you have it or not?" Jafar steped forward and leaned his face just inches from Gold's face.

Gold stared back evenly. "I haven't been to the vault in ages. If Regina is missing one of her hearts I am afraid I can't help you with that."

"For your sake," Jafar muttered, "I hope what you say is true." He turned and swept out of the shop.

The minute he was out of sight, Gold moved slowly to the very back room of his pawn shop, where Cyrus was watching a spell slowly envelop the serpent staff. He looked up when Gold entered.

"Is he gone?" Cyrus asked.

Gold nodded.

"What did he want?"

"Apparently, he had asked Regina for a certain heart from among her collection, and she informed him that it had been stolen."

"A heart?" Only one person connected with Jafar had ever missed his heart, in Cyrus' knowledge.

Gold nodded. "It would be the last ingredient to be able to track your friend, and possibly pull him right out of that world and into Jafar's custody."

"And when that happens," Cyrus murmured, "he will have all three genies and access to ultimate power." He watched the glowing staff anxiously. "We need to lift the curse before that happens. How much longer is this going to take?"

Gold sighed and moved to his work table. "I wish I could tell you, but these things don't happen very often, and it's a very delicate process. Be patient," he reassured the young man, "and don't lose hope."

Cyrus nodded. "If there's one thing I've learned," he said, "it is that haste leads only to ruin."

At the library, Belle smiled as Alice pored over the books supposedly referring to her adventures.

"This is unbelievable," the young woman gasped, gazing at the illustrations. "Half the time these pictures are so realistic that I can't help wondering if the people who drew them had actually been—but so much of the story is obviously made up," she frowned at one passage and shook her head, "that it is very clear that Mr. Carroll and I never met!"

Belle smiled and joined her on the couch as Alice finally set aside the novel. "Oh, I know all about that! You would not believe the versions of my own story that I've read!"

"At least when you're evil, the stories stay pretty consistent," cut in a voice.

Both women tensed as Regina walked up to them. Neither had even heard her enter the building.

"What do you want?" Belle demanded, cringing.

"No, it's all right," said Alice, standing to her feet, "she's on our side. What news do you have?"

"I came to warn you," said Regina. "Do you remember the girl who worked at Granny's Bed and Breakfast, the blonde one?"

"Ashley?" Alice frowned. "Yes, somewhat; why?"

"First of all, she is Anastasia's step-sister."

"What?"

"Her real name—the one she had in the Enchanted Forest—is Ella."

Alice glanced down to where she had set aside the story of Cinderella. "What does that have to do with me?"

Regina pursed her lips grimly. "Earlier today, I caught her snooping around the place where I keep the Vault of Hearts."

Alice recalled doing some snooping around the Vault herself, when it had been in Wonderland. "And?" Her own heart began to beat faster.

"The Knave's heart is gone."

Alice covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh no!" She gasped. "Did she steal it for Jafar?"

"He doesn't seem to have any idea where it is," Regina answered. "I might have gone straight to her and asked her what she did with it, myself, but I thought she might be more willing to tell if you asked her."

Alice nodded. "I will, right away. Just tell me where I can find her."

"Sure, I can show you the way. Let's just hope she didn't know what she was doing, and the heart is still there."

Later that evening, Regina was just sitting down to dinner when the phone rang. She rolled her eyes as the caller ID showed the number for City Hall. She lifted the receiver.

"So? Did you find it?" She asked.

"No," answered Jafar. "I assume from your question that you still have not regained it, either. But no matter; there is something else I wanted to ask you about."

"I am all ears."

"It appears that sometime in the last few days, my staff has gone missing, much like the heart. Have you seen it?"

Regina pondered carefully. "Is it the serpent-headed walking stick you carried with you when we first met?"

"Yes, that's the one."

"Oh, well, as a matter of fact," Regina fought to keep the grin out of her voice, since she could not keep it off her face, "I did see it the other day."

"Where?" Jafar's tone crackled with desperation—music to her ears.

"Mr. Gold was carrying it down the street," she said slowly, envisioning the rage contorting the short-tempered sorcerer's features. "I assumed you had lent it to him," she posed innocently.

Jafar's answer came strained, as if he spoke through clenched teeth. "I most certainly did not! Thank you; goodbye." He ended the call with a bang.

Regina smiled and resumed her dinner. The foolish, ambitious, arrogant sorcerer would learn his place in this town soon enough.