Chapter 21
Ruby casually leaned against some metal shelving in the linen closet and absent mindedly sucked on a cherry lollypop. She furtively watched Mary Margaret pace back and forth next to the cash cart within the tiny confined space, checking her watch every thirty seconds.
"Relax, sweetie," she said. "They will call us when it's time."
"It's been forever!" Mary Margaret moaned, tugging on the collar of the kitchen uniform. "Henry could be suffocating in this thing!"
"It's been less than ten minutes since we left the hotel room. Besides, he has a tank of oxygen and some chocolate bars. He's fine." She frowned as her new best friend undid the top buttons of her jacket and began to sweat profusely. "But you're obviously not. Are you okay?"
"I'm a little claustrophobic," she gasped. "When I was a child I snuck out of bed to watch the movie The Vanishing with my nanny, Johanna. Ever since then, I've been terrified of being buried alive. I don't like small, dark places."
"Fine. So let's keep your mind occupied then." She wiggled her perfectly manicured eyebrows suggestively. "Did you and David have a little private time before his shift started this afternoon?"
"Ruby!" she cried, sounding scandalized. "There is a ten year old boy sitting in that cart next to you."
"He can't hear us," Ruby replied. "He's locked in an airtight container."
Mary Margaret moaned loudly and started fanning herself with a pillow case. "Oh, dear Lord. Don't remind me."
"Ruby?" called a male voice over her earpiece. "Come in, Ruby."
"We hear you loud and clear, Neal," she replied into the sleeve at her wrist. "Talk to me."
"Archie got the codes. It's time to deliver the package."
"You got it, boss."
The two friends immediately removed their room service outfits and slipped on the red blazers they had hidden within the stored bed sheets. Mary Margaret inserted a clip into her hair that instantly gave her a long, black ponytail. Ruby, meanwhile, took out an elastic and quickly put her hair up into a professional looking bun and attached her fake ID card to the lapel.
She grabbed hold of Mary Margaret's upper arm before she opened the door and gazed at her in concern. "You sure you're up to this?"
"Regina took everything from me," she replied grimly. "It's time to return the favor."
Satisfied, Ruby opened the door and stepped aside as Mary Margaret pushed the heavy metal cart through. They quickly turned into the nearest elevator and pressed the button for the main floor. After a very quick descent, the doors parted and together they walked out into the garish lights and mind-numbing bells and whistles of the gaming floor.
"Don't look around too much," whispered Ruby from the corner of her mouth, "It might raise suspicions. The key is to act like we own the place. We belong here. Can you do that?"
Beside her, the shorter woman took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. "Absolutely."
They walked past the crowded gaming tables where David was nowhere to be seen and through the bustling slot machines where desperate souls spent the last of their change, hoping for a miracle to happen.
Too soon they reached the cage doors were a handsome dark skinned man in a black suit stood guard. Ruby flashed him a quick smile as she dug into her pockets while Mary Margaret fidgeted irritably next to her.
"Uh oh!" she whispered. Turning to Mary Margaret with a look of shock on her face, she said, "I forgot the pass card!"
"What?" she exclaimed crossly. She ran a hand over her mouth and groaned in exasperation. "How could you forget the card? You knew we needed it!"
"I'm so sorry!" she wailed. Thick tears immediately started to spill from her brown eyes and she swatted at them impatiently. "I screw everything up!"
"God! You are so stupid!" cried Mary Margaret loudly. "Why do I always get paired up with you? You are so useless!"
All around them, the casino guests stopped to stare at the two incredibly unprofessional employees. The once stoic guard now stared in open mouth horror as he hopelessly tried to shush the two arguing ladies.
"I said I'm sorry! You don't have to be so mean and hurt my feelings! You used to be so nice but now you're just a black-hearted bitch!"
"Hey!" The guard raised his arms out to create some distance between them but Mary Margaret continued to shout out insults at her partner. Ruby now cried openly while a hundred gamblers stopped wasting their money on the machines to watch the brutal exchange of words instead. "Enough! Just…tell me where this cart is from."
"It's from the High Rollers Room," said Mary Margaret, sending Ruby a scathing look.
"Fine." He looked around desperately until he found another employee wearing a red blazer. "Greg! Over here. I need you to take this cart in for me, okay?"
"Sure thing, Lance." The slightly balding man withdrew his pass card and swiped it across the pad. Once it had turned green, he took the cart from Ruby and pushed it towards the open door. "Is this headed to the cash office?"
"No," Lance replied. "The VIP money goes directly to the vault. And don't forget to input your fingerprint ID in the elevator this time. Security is tied up because of the boxing match tonight so if you don't you'll be trapped in there a while."
"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled, disappearing through the opening. The heavy metal door closed with a loud clunk that reverberated through the carpeted floor.
Lance turned his wary gaze back to them and huffed loudly. "As for you two…"
"We're really sorry," implored Mary Margaret.
"It'll never happen again, Lance," added Ruby. "We swear!"
"Next time, just remember your card and we won't run into this problem, okay?"
They turned away and walked as quickly as they could without raising suspicions. Once safely out of earshot, Ruby raised her wrist to her mouth. "Package has been delivered. Henry is on his way."
"We're tracking him on the monitors now," replied Emma. "Good work."
They continued to walk until they reached one of the many alcoves that would hide them from the cameras and quickly removed their red blazers. After stuffing them inside a large garbage can, they fixed their hair back to their natural state, put on some overlarge sunglasses and re-adjusted the tight outfits they had on hidden underneath.
Ruby flung her arm around Mary Margaret's shoulders while she in turn got one around the waist. Looking very much like any other out of town couple, they walked out of the alcove with their heads together, resembling nothing like the bickering co-workers they had just been.
~8~8~8~
The march through the labyrinth of corridors had tired Granny out far more than she was ever willing to admit and by the time she reached the Security Room her legs were shaking from the effort. She attempted to steady her ragged breathing but with no luck. Her guide's stride was simply far too long for the petite woman to keep up and her chest now ached from exertion.
She gratefully leaned against a sturdy railing near the entrance for a brief rest, all under the guise of looking around the expansive monitoring room. She marveled at the sheer number of computer screens that covered the wall and was momentarily taken aback by the amount of equipment Regina had working for her.
The woman was either very careful or very paranoid.
Three black suited employees each sat at their own consoles, their eyes darting back and forth across the hundreds of images that flashed before them while relaying instructions to the guards on the gaming floor. Granny could not make heads or tails of it but she knew that Emma would be in absolute heaven here.
"Impressive, isn't it? This is the heart of the whole operation. It's the biggest of its kind on the East coast," boasted Gaston, placing a hand on her shoulder. He towered over her, forcing her to throw her head back to gaze up into his face. She was instantly overcome with the nauseating feeling of vertigo. Damn, he was tall! "And Ms. Mills always prefers the biggest and the best. Isn't that right Mr. Glass?"
The Head of Security still sported a shiner from his run in with David and his lip looked the worse for wear. His gray suit was a bit disheveled, like he had just rolled out of bed wearing it, and the unmistakable scent of stale whiskey wafted towards her as he spoke. "Well Gaston, if you knew anything about equipment, you'd know that the bigger and bulkier they are, the slower and less efficient they are. The best equipment comes in smaller packages."
Her first instinct was to kick the two bastards in both of their packages for daring to touch Belle and Mary Margaret, but she buried the feeling deep. She had a job to do. Plus her legs were too weak at the moment to reasonably hurt them. Instead Mrs. Lucas smiled graciously at the Casino Manager and fantasized about hunting the giant down with her crossbow on a deserted island.
"That's all very fascinating, Mr. Chevalier. However I am only interested in my package. I can't find a thing on these damn screens. Which one is it?"
"Of course, Mrs. Lucas. Bring it up on the main screen."
The image on the largest of the monitors suddenly changed from a poker table to that of a long hallway. A solitary man carrying the precious briefcase marched towards an elevator.
"See?" asked Gaston. "There's Kurt with your briefcase now. It's in safe hands, Mrs. Lucas."
Kurt reached the elevator and held it open while another red-blazered employee rolled a golden cash cart down the hall. Once he too entered it, the image changed to an overhead view from inside the lift.
She was surprised that they had audio as well as visual. She listened to the idle chit chat of Kurt and a young man named Greg catch up and watched as one of them inserted their pass card and pressed his thumb against a pad for instant identification. Once the computer assessed his clearance, the elevator began its long descent into the Casino's underbelly.
Henry and the briefcase were now on their way to the vault.
Granny sighed heavily and wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. The pain in her chest suddenly increased enough to make her wince. She reached into her purse for her pills and noticed that her left arm had started tingling.
By the time she managed to swallow the pills, her hand felt completely numb.
~8~8~8~
Neal took a sip of his bottled water and wished to God that it was a beer instead. His nerves were completely frayed. So far everything was going according to plan but he knew their luck couldn't last forever. The slightest wrong move could ruin them all.
And now that he knew it was his own son hidden away in the cash cart he couldn't sit still. Every nerve in his entire body screamed for him to force his way through the army of security guards and retrieve his boy before something bad could happen.
But they were committed now. There was no turning back.
At least Emma seemed to be faring better than he. She was one hundred percent focused on the tasks at hand, making sure every con was in play on time. It was the only way she could protect her child and nothing would deter her.
"Take a look," she said, pointing to one of her monitors. "Both packages are on their way to the vault."
Neal let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and ran his hand over Emma's back. "Okay. Okay that's good. Get ready to hack into their surveillance and switch the feeds. Listen carefully for the signal."
He picked up one of the bulky walkie-talkies meant for long distances and pressed down on the button. "Jefferson? We're almost ready for you. What's you status?"
The reply came back quickly, much to Neal's relief. "I'm just connecting the last of the car batteries now. As long as I don't electrocute myself I should be good to go."
Neal licked his parched lips. "Are you sure you can make it work?"
"Not if you keep interrupting me!" came the gruff reply. "Just let me work my magic."
~8~8~8~
Archie heaved a huge sigh of relief as he safely tucked the vault codes into his breast pocket. Getting them had been easy. Now it was time for the hard part.
"Killian! Claude! Get in here!" Regina cried.
The two guards who had escorted David from his Blackjack table immediately walked in and glared at the sullen looking dealer.
"Escort Mr. Prince, or whatever the Hell his name is, off the premises at once!"
"Right away Ms. Mills," replied Claude. He fiercely took hold of David by one arm while Killian took the other and held him in roughly in place.
Regina approached the now disgraced employee and slowly ran her index finger from his navel all the way up to his chin. Her newly manicured nails pierced the soft flesh of his throat as she forcefully raised his head to face hers.
"What a waste," she spoke quietly to him. "We could have had such a… mutually satisfying working relationship." Her expression then turned dark and she roughly pushed him away. "Don't ever step foot in my Casino again. Or it will be the last thing you ever do."
David sent Archie a scornful look for good measure and allowed himself to be led out of the room and down the hall. Once they were out of sight, Regina checked her watched and sneered.
"So much for my dinner reservation," she muttered. She turned to Archie and held her hand out, palm up, towards the doorway. He took the hint and immediately marched down the hall with Regina by his side.
Once they were about halfway through the maze, Archie stopped and looked down at his hands. "Oh no! Ms. Mills, I'm terribly sorry but I seem to have forgotten my umbrella!"
Regina growled low in her throat and checked her watch once again. "Do you know your way back?" she asked.
"I do," he replied confidently.
Without sparing him a second glance, she continued to make her way towards the exit.
"Enjoy the fight!" he called out.
Yes, he did know the way out. He just wasn't ready to go yet.
~8~8~8~
Mr. Gold checked his antique pocket watch and smiled. If everything was going according to schedule, Henry and the package would be on their way to the vault and Archie should almost be in place. Everything now counted on Jefferson getting that ridiculous Pinch contraption to work and cast the seaside town into darkness.
He comfortably leaned against an old rickety table and looked around what appeared to be a spare storage room. The small windowless area was quite sparse, with only a couple pieces of furniture and a few sealed cardboard boxes.
The two goons who had escorted him to such lovely accommodations now stood in front of the door, staring silently at him. They had barely blinked since shoving him inside.
"I see there are no cameras in this room," he stated calmly. If their intent was to intimidate him they would be sorely disappointed. "No. Of course there wouldn't be. You don't want anyone to see what goes on in here, do you?"
They did not reply, nor did they react in any way to his words. They simply continued to stare. These men were quite serious.
"Regina isn't coming, is she?" he asked quietly.
Suddenly, a giant shadowy fist began to pound on the door's frosted glass window. The guards finally showed a brief flicker of emotion as they smirked at the insistent pounding. They seemed find what was coming next to be highly amusing.
They stepped aside to open the door, where one of the largest men Gold had ever seen in his life stood waiting. He was so wide he had to turn slightly sideways in order to fit through the opening. He had lengthy russet colored hair and a long straggly beard. He bared his teeth at Gold and pounded a mighty fist into the palm of his other hand.
"This is Tiny," said one of the brutes.
"We'll leave you two alone to get to know each other," the other one chuckled.
The door closed behind them, leaving Tiny and Gold to stare silently at one another.
"Hello, Anton," he said quietly, bestowing the large man a smile. "I do believe I'm ready to cash in that favor you owe me."
A/N – So far throughout this entire story, I have included or at least referenced almost every single character that has been on the show! (Although I purposely left out certain Fairytale characters that did not make it to Storybrooke like the witch who ate children, Cinderella's Fairy Godmother or Frankenstein's family.) However I did manage to reunite Greg and Kurt! Have I forgotten anyone else? If so, let me know and I'll try to include them in some way in the next few chapters. And before everyone cries out 'Graham' I mentioned back in chapter 4 that he died of a heart attack and Cora was mentioned (but not by name unfortunately) back in chapter 12 when Regina thought about how she would betray her own parents for a higher stock market value.