The changes that Henry had brought to Storybrooke had started out benign and amusing. Time moving forward was all well and good as long as the people stayed cursed. Mayor Mills had taken an odd delight, at first, in seeing what the people of Storybrooke did with the opportunity for change. For example, the budding relationship between David and Mary Margret, Ruby's new part-time job at the sheriff station, and Granny no longer always serving the same "specials" all the time. But enough was enough and, somehow, it had reached the point where some of Storybrooke's residents no longer shied away or jumped out of the mayor's path when she walked down the sidewalk. Sheriff Graham met her with a polite nod-no fear whatsoever-and Dr. Hopper with the hint of a triumphant smirk.
She needed to regain control of her town as quickly as possible. And coming up with a motivation for Mr. Gold to evict Virginia was the first step. The problem was that the mayor had no idea what he needed or wanted. Perhaps a little chat with his wife would help.
When the mayor found her, Mrs. Gold was standing outside the library chatting with the woman the mayor recognized as Henry's sister. Mayor Mills decided to stay concealed for once, just long enough to listen to what Helena was saying to Mrs. Gold.
"…another therapy session on Friday…Dr. Hopper…trying…belief…fairy tales…mayor…witch…no…dangerous…"
The mayor inched closer, staying hidden on the other side of a pillar.
"Do let me know if there's anything we can do, Helena. And thank you so much for telling us everything."
"It's no problem. I promise I'll ask Dr. Hopper if whatever Henry has is genetic next time I talk to him. Come to think of it, that's something that I should know, too."
"Thank you," replied Mrs. Gold. "I hope you don't feel I'm asking you to share anything too personal."
"No, I understand," said Helena quickly. "For her sake, I'm glad Kayla found Henry. Everyone should know their biological parents' medical history. I know I wish I did."
So Kayla was Henry's biological daughter?
Kayla was Henry's daughter?
Not caring to stick around for the rest of that stupid conversation, the mayor stormed ahead to her next destination, growing more angry with every stride and glaring more aggressively at every passerby.
"Rumpelstiltskin!"
The pawnbroker looked up from his counter startlingly quickly and smiled nonchalantly. "Excuse me?"
"Don't," seethed the mayor. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that out of all the children in the country, you and your wife just so happened to adopt the daughter of the savior? How dare you? You remember everything! You're the one who lured Henry into Storybrooke, and you have deliberately robbed me of my most valuable asset."
Mr. Gold raised an eyebrow. "What might that be, Madam Mayor?"
"My daughter, of course."
"Well, that's strange. I thought Virginia was a human being. Or should I say, Regina?"
"As if you have any right to judge me as a parent. I wanted a daughter so that I could make her a queen, and you wanted one to lure Henry into Storybrooke. I knew you had something to do with all these changes. Were you really that bored, Rumpel?"
"It's not as if I didn't know you'd find him, dearie. Seems to me that as long as you've got Henry locked up, the damage he can do to this town is quite limited."
"It seems to me that locking him up has only made things worse!" the mayor retorted. "It's gone too far. I don't know what to expect from people anymore; my own daughter betrayed me, and I'm fairly certain that that sister of Henry's blames me for the fact that he's locked up and is trying to turn everyone she comes across against me out of spite."
"I assure you that Helena firmly believes that her brother is out of his mind and has been putting in her best efforts to knock some sense into him. Hard as this may be for you to believe, dearie, not everything that happens in Storybrooke is centered around you. Especially not now that things are different here. Even you've got to admit that life has become a lot more interesting, hmm?"
The mayor clenched her jaw and leaned across the counter, facing her former master head on. "But what am I supposed to do about the fact that as long as the savior is in Storybrooke, dead or alive, he's a threat to the curse?"
"How should I know?"
"You're the one who created the curse for me!"
Mr. Gold flashed an amused smile. "It's your town, Madam Mayor. So you figure it out."
The severe nurse barely looked up when the mayor appeared in front of her desk. "What can I do for you, Mayor Mills?"
"Has anyone come to visit the patients in the maximum security ward?"
"Henry's sister has come by. As for the others…none today. None ever."
"Where is Henry?"
"Room 5A."
The mayor went over to Henry and Daniel's room, looked around to make sure no one was nearby, and opened the door with one of her heart keys. Henry and Daniel were sitting next to each other on Daniel's bed talking.
"I hope I'm not interrupting your family reunion," said the mayor. She faced Henry directly and ignored the quizzical look Daniel shot her. "I've come to offer you a deal. If you promise me that you will leave Storybrooke and never return to or speak of this place again, I will make arrangements for you to go back to Boston tonight with Kayla."
Henry just starred at her for a moment. Could she possibly be serious? Why would she want him to agree to this deal?
"Do you really expect me to believe you'll make good on that?" Henry tested. "I think we both know what Kayla's father is capable of."
"I'll make absolute certain that he never finds out I helped you take her. All he'll know is that you kidnapped his child, which will serve as your incentive never to risk contacting anyone in Storybrooke ever again. None of your hospital records accumulated here need ever appear anyone else, so you'll be free. And you'll have your only child all to yourself. You want that, don't you Henry?"
Henry looked away and took a few minutes to think through what she was saying. If he accepted her offer, he could finally make up to Kayla for not being there for her for the past eleven years. He hadn't realized how badly he'd wanted that until now. But what about all the other people in Storybrooke whom he was as responsible for, if not more so?
"What about Helena?" Henry asked.
"I'm sure she'll go off looking for you as soon as she hears that you left. You'll be free to contact her as soon as she's out of town. Or not. Whatever suits you."
Henry looked up at the mayor and wondered what she planned to do if he didn't leave. Would she kill him? Would she kill his family? He found the answer in her soulless gaze. Having no heart meant having no morals. Had she seen killing them as a viable option, they would already be dead.
"You're not going to put your whole family back together, Henry," said the mayor. "This the best offer you're ever going to get. Surely you can't refuse."
"Actually, I can," said Henry. "If you hate the fact that I'm in Storybrooke so much that you're willing to let me walk, then I must be doing something right."
The mayor's expression hardened. "You're not likely to get this offer from me again anytime soon, Henry. If there's ever a next time, I suggest you be good."
The mayor disappeared as quickly as she'd come. Daniel looked, if possible, more pale than he usually did.
"She seems…intense," Daniel finally said.
"Trust me, man. You don't know the half of it." Daniel glanced away warily, as if feeling like he'd just been hallucinating. "And by the way, she's your mother-in-law."
"Really? No wonder I ended up in a nuthouse."
"Again," said Henry grimly. "You don't know the half of it."
Because Virginia had said she would be working late, Helena had planned on eating dinner alone for once. Kevin, Eleanor, Mary Margret, and David were having a double date in the booth next to her. They'd tried convincing her to sit with them, but she wasn't really in the mood to talk to people right now, especially not as a fifth wheel. Still Mary Margret managed to disrupt her thoughts by spending ten minutes raving about a bouquet of roses David had bought her from Kathryn Evans' flower shop. According to Henry's theory, that meant Prince James had just bought flowers from his wife to give to his girlfriend. Naturally Helena refrained from sharing that thought.
"I know it might seem like we're moving too fast," said David, squeezing Mary Margret's hand. "But I've had feelings for this woman as long as I can remember. My advice to everyone is when the timing is right, go for it." Helena smiled to herself at their naivety. The other couple clapped.
"It's true," said Kevin. "I've only been getting to know Eleanor for a couple of weeks, and it feels like I've been looking for her forever."
She blushed. "Aww."
Helena sighed. She was still annoyed with Eleanor for trying to help Henry with his plan. But deep down she knew Eleanor needed help as much as Henry did.
Helena nearly jumped when Kayla discreetly slid onto the bench next to her.
"Hi," Kayla whispered. "I need to talk to you. We're in the middle of an Operation Zebra emergency."
Helena widened her eyes playfully. "What kind of emergency?"
"I heard my dad telling my mom that the mayor tried to convince him to kick Virginia out of her apartment so that she'll move back in with her."
"What?" said Helena in a sharper tone than she'd intended.
"Virginia is your mom, Helena. You can't let the evil witch pull her back in."
"What the mayor is trying to do to Virginia is a very rotten thing," said Helena. "But why do you think she could be my mother? She and I are the same age."
"Because time's been frozen here your whole life, remember?"
"Oh, right. That." Helena took a sip of her drink. "Is that something Henry told you?"
"Uh-uh. I know because no one ever gets older here. My mom turns the same age every year on her birthday, and my dad won't even talk about his age."
"That doesn't mean time's frozen," said Helena. "A lady I work with in Boston has turned twenty-nine on quite a few birthdays."
"You mostly work with kids, right?"
"Yeah."
"Have you ever met a kid who stayed being a little kid for years at a time?"
"What do you mean?" asked Helena.
Kayla stole a french fry off of Helena's plate. "Have you met Nicholas and Ava Zimmer?"
"Yeah, the mechanic's kids."
"Right. They were my friends in Kindergarten."
"They're like, five years younger than you."
"Exactly. They're still in Kindergarten."
"I'm sure you're misremembering," Helena assured her.
"No. It was them."
Helena tried to remember everything Dr. Hopper had told her about how the best way to treat someone like Henry or Kayla was to go into their fantasy world and slowly bring them out. "But then how is it that you've gotten older?"
"I wasn't here when the curse was cast."
"Right." Helena took the final bite of her sandwich. In the background, she vaguely heard Graham talking to Granny about a routine safety inspection and Granny grumbling and groaning about it more than usual. Apparently, Ruby's decision to work at the sheriff station part time hadn't sat well with Granny.
"Whatever possessed you to hire that kid in the first place?" Granny finally snapped. "Do you really think she's cut out for the kind of work you do?"
"Ruby won't be doing the kind of work I do," said Graham. "She's learning how to do entry level office work. And I'm not sure she'll ever want to do more than that. She's not trying to get away from you. If that were the case, she wouldn't still be working part-time at the diner. She's just trying to figure out who she is. She'll never know what she's capable of if she doesn't try new things."
"But why does she have to figure out who she is at the police station of all places? Why couldn't it be at the animal shelter?"
"Apparently, it was Henry's idea," Graham admitted. "After he was locked up, Ruby came to me, and we discussed it. She's been doing very well so far."
"Oh, figures," scoffed Granny. "Like that man hadn't screwed up enough in this town already."
"Don't talk about Henry like that!" Graham protested. "You don't know what he's been through. None of us do."
Granny opened her mouth to respond but turned pale when Helena and Kayla both stood up and positioned themselves near Graham. Helena pulled out her wallet and handed Granny the exact amount of money her meal had cost, no tip. She was too angry to put into words what was going through her mind, but the look on her face said it all. Granny looked like she wanted to apologize but couldn't think of anything to say that would legitimately negate the impact her words had already had.
"Have a good night, Granny," said Helena curtly. She and Graham began walking towards the door. Kayla stopped and made a defiant face at Granny.
"My mom says you can't tell what's in a person's heart until you truly know them," said Kayla. "And by the way, if you don't let Ruby find out the truth about who she is sooner or later, something really bad might happen." Kayla marched over to the door and walked outside after Graham and Helena. From there she went across the street to join her parents on their evening stroll, mumbling something about Ruby needing to know she was really the big bad wolf.
"Are you okay?" asked Graham gently. "Granny's wrong, you know," he said. "Whatever Henry did or wanted to do to the mayor wasn't his fault."
"But he did do it," Helena said.
"Making a mistake doesn't give everyone the right to make assumptions about who a person is."
Helena wiped the tears from her cheeks and tried to convince herself that this was just one person's opinion. Just one person. One person who happened to run the most popular business in Storybrooke.
"Thank you," Helena finally said. "For everything." Graham smiled. "Good night."
Helena did her best to put Granny's words out of her mind on the walk back to the apartment. Unfortunately, she soon had bigger issues to worry about. The front door to the apartment was cracked open when she got there, and Virginia always remembered to lock it. Helena checked the doorknob and door frame. Everything was perfectly intact, no signs of a break-in, and she could hear the bathwater running. Virginia's boots weren't in their usual place by the door. Suddenly, Helena heard a huge crash coming from the bathroom and went over to the door.
"Everything okay?" Helena called. No response. "If you don't answer me, I'm coming in!" After about ten more seconds, Helena rattled the door. It was locked. Fortunately, it didn't take much effort for her to kick down.
"Hello, Helena." Helena nearly jumped back when she saw the mayor standing in the bathroom surrounded by water and glass. Helena raced to turn off the showerhead that was presently aimed at the tile, then jumped out of the bathroom and managed to corner the mayor in the hallway.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" hissed Helena.
"I'm trying to show my daughter how much she needs me. Virginia's not as resourceful as she thinks she is, sweet Helena. She's made so many mistakes that you don't even know about. She might be handling herself well right now, because she has you. But I think we both know you aren't going to be here for her forever. I can tell you care about my daughter. So why don't you help me show her what's best for her?"
Helena sucked in a futile breath before speaking. "Have you ever stopped to think that maybe the problem isn't with your daughter, Madam Mayor, but with you?"
For the first time since setting foot in the apartment, the mayor's eyes flickered faintly with emotion. "Excuse me?"
"All I did was give Virginia the idea that it was possible to walk away from you if she wanted to. She's the one who decided not to go home with you after she saw how you treat everyone in Storybrooke. She's the one who went to Gold looking for an apartment. She's the one who paid for it and found herself a job at the stables. And she's the one who told you in no uncertain terms that she doesn't need you. No one has ever forced Virginia to choose freedom over you."
The mayor's face hardened as the words burned her like scalding hot water. She marched past Helena and out of the apartment without looking back.
Helena had spoken the truth. All these years, the mayor had blamed love for the fact that Regina had left her. But with just a little encouragement-and none at all from Daniel-her daughter had left her again for horses, freedom, and companionship. Foolish girl. If she had had the good sense to rip her daughter's heart out when she was a child, she never would have developed the desire for such meaningless things. But the fact remained that Regina had left her a second time. And all because the savior's sister had it out for her.
There was only one way for Madam Mayor Cora Mills to get her daughter back. And that was to destroy Helena.
Alone in the apartment, Helena absorbed the flooding as best she could with thick towels, then put the towels in the bathtub to decide how to get rid of the glass shards in them later. The mirror above the sink was smashed in several places and now impossible to use for its intended purpose. Helena swept up the remaining glass shards and threw them away. She checked the rest of the house. There was no other damage. Helena shuddered to think of how the place would have looked if she'd stayed out any longer. That's when it occurred to her to wonder how the hell the mayor had gotten into the apartment in the first place. Surely she didn't have a key? Or did she?
Oh, well. At first, all Helena had ever wanted out of being in Storybrooke was to leave it with her brother. But much as she hated to admit it, the events of the past week had caused her to feel a growing connection to this town. She had an unsurpassed feeling of satisfaction from helping the residents. Especially Virginia.
Helena was here to help Henry, and her niece, and all her new friends. And damned if she was going to let some small-town mayor stand in her way.