The thing about Jefferson was that he always wanted to make sure that Snow was comfortable. If she was comfortable then it meant that she'd stay longer and chat with him. Snow had always tried her best to make sure that whatever extra time she had, it was spent calling him up and making sure he was okay. Of course, that time talking to him went longer than Snow anticipated; he was desperate for someone to be with.
And now, he was getting his wish. And he was treating her delicately to make sure he didn't unsettle her. He had….very sudden mood swings where he'd be very excited and then quickly depressed. He was trying to do better but they still happened.
"He thought I cut her heart out," Snow swiped a tear from her eyed, "He thought I was capable of it."
"It's the curse, Snow."
"The curse that's weakening?!" she demanded, "He's not controlled like Graham was. He can think for himself, he knows what he's doing and he should know that I'm not brutal enough to do something so evil."
"Just brutal enough to know about an innocent woman being taken," Jefferson pointed out and sipped his tea.
Snow drew her legs up, "I know I'm horrible, but I'm not brutal. What I did was bad but that doesn't make me…evil, does it?"
"I don't think so. Sometimes we have to do bad things to get good results. Anyway, you've spent months with the Dark One as a husband; it would surprise no one if you went slightly darker than what you normally were."
"But I'm better than this! I know what I'm doing is wrong and I'm doing it anyway."
"So, your daughter can believe and Regina will get what's coming to her. That's not all that bad, is it?"
"Jefferson, please stop trying to justify it. I'm wrong and we both know it."
"For the right outcome, how long will it be before your daughter believes if you played by the rules of good? From I understand? Years and years. And some of us don't want to wait that long, we've wasted enough time already."
Snow nodded, "Yeah, I know."
Jefferson grew distant and he looked at her like he was looking past her, "Do you think Emma could get me my daughter back?"
"I'm not sure it would work, Jefferson."
"It worked for those twins that she nearly had to take out of town."
"Because their false memories did state that he was. Grace has a father for better or worse-."
Jefferson's expression darkened, "He's not her father."
"She thinks he is."
Jefferson grabbed the tea tray with a little more force than he anticipated, "It's cold, I'm going to get more."
Snow sat there by the fire and wondered if maybe she'd overstepped her bounds. She never meant to hurt him, but sometimes he thought Emma was capable of more than she actually was.
When he returned, he put the warm tea down in front of her and gave her the cup he already filled, "Emma could do it, if I explained it to her."
"I don't think so," Snow told him, "She's not going to just suddenly believe because you tell her it's real. Her son has told her it's real but she won't' listen."
"But if two people confirm it, then-."
"A hundred people could tell her it's true. She wouldn't listen."
"She would if I told her. If I told her about being separated from my daughter. She's separated from Henry, she can identify with that."
"She could but it doesn't mean it'll happen."
"I could do it," he insisted.
Snow wished that was true, but she knew that Emma would need more.
Her head bobbed and she struggled to upright it. Jefferson grew blurry in her sight and she blinked and swayed.
Oh gods, what had he done?
"Jeffer-," she looked up and felt herself falling forward.
Jefferson rushed in front of her and caught her, "Whoa."
"What-," she felt her tongue not working.
"I have to," he whispered, "I have to get Grace back and you'll just stop me if I bring Emma here. I can't do this anymore Snow. It's not right that Regina's isolated me so much that I have to wait by the phone in hopes that you or Rumpelstiltskin call just to talk and it still not be enough. "
"Jeffers-."
He pulled her against his chest and buried his face in her hair, "Please, forgive me Snow. I'm so sorry."
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
There was no doubt that he had Emma the minute she agreed to let him do what it took to save Snow. There was a freedom given to him now that allowed him to do whatever he wanted and she couldn't say anything because now she gave him permission.
As long as Snow did her part of the deal.
Emma didn't talk to him on the drive back. He saw in her eyes that she was already regretting how far she'd agreed to go. She was probably mentally kicking herself already.
Her son was sitting in the hallway when they arrived. It was late, where was Regina?
"Henry. What are you doing here?" Emma asked.
"I came to congratulate you!" Henry smiled
"For what?" Emma asked with her arms crossed.
"Your genius plan," Henry said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
It worked. She was gone. Rumpelstiltskin smiled, "And what plan's that, Henry?"
A look of dread crossed Henry's face and he stared down at his feet.
Rumpelstiltskin shrugged and continued forward, "Nice."
He ignored the chat between mother and son and continued forward. Like he expected, the cell door was open and the cell was empty. She'd even made the bed, wasn't that nice of her?
He let a beat pass, "Sheriff, could you join me, please?"
Emma and her son followed, "She's gone."
Emma looked both stunned and horrified, "Henry, what did you do?"
"Nothing," Henry protested as Emma rushed forward, "She was gone when I got here."
Rumpelstiltskin tried to hide his smirk, "Her arraignment's tomorrow. If she's not there…"
Emma stood in the cell. Like if she stood in the middle of it, then she could process that it was now empty, "She's a fugitive. Doesn't matter if she's convicted for Kathryn or not – she's screwed. I have to go find her before someone notices she's missing."
Rumpelstiltskin knew that 'someone' immediately, "Oh, you mean Regina?"
Emma rushed around and grabbed her things, "The arraignment's at eight A.M. I'm sure she'll be here bright and early to celebrate her victory."
"Well, you have until eight A.M., then," he allowed.
Henry went to his mother, "Uh, what about me? How can I help?"
"Go home," Emma turned him around and urged him forward.
"Emma," Henry lowered his voice, "If she leaves Storybrooke…"
"Not now, Henry. Come on."
"Miss Swan," Rumpelstiltskin walked up to her, "I know time is of the essence, but if my wife doesn't return… Her future's in jeopardy. And if you're caught helping her, so is yours."
Emma's gaze hardened, "I don't care. I'd rather lose my job than my friend."
Rumpelstiltskin waited until she was gone before he let his smirk show, "Good luck, then."
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Snow knew she was drugged and she knew that she was being moved into another room but for the life of her, she couldn't wake up. She heard Jefferson apologizing over and over but she didn't register it.
She knew she'd been thrown unceremoniously onto the carpet of a room that he used for storage and left alone. She dozed in and out of her drugged state and only really awoke when she felt someone shaking her.
She couldn't see clearly, but she saw the light shining from the hallway and she smiled as her daughter looked like an angel, "Emma."
"What are you doing here?" Emma slapped her face gently, "No, no, no, wake up!"
She shouldn't have come after her! Not now! Not here. Emma didn't even know this place existed, how did she end up here?
Unless Jefferson lured her out.
"Why are you here?" Snow half demanded, half slurred.
"I've been trying to find you. You escaped, remember? How did you get out?
"Key….under my pillow….put there," she struggled to say the words through her thick tongue….well, it felt thicker than usual.
"Who?" Emma helped her up and slung one arm over her shoulder.
"Don't know," Snow lied.
"Has he hurt you?"
"No…." Snow struggled to focus, "He wouldn't…"
"Okay, shh," Emma opened the door and slipped out. Snow watched as she checked the hallway and guided Snow out. Snow tried to focus on putting one foot in front of the other.
Emma stopped and tensed. Snow lifted her heavy head up and saw Jefferson with a jovial smile on his face.
And a gun.
"I see you found Spot," he told Emma.
Emma shifted, "I've already called for backup. They'll be here any second."
"You haven't called anybody," he told her, "For the same reason you didn't tell me about her. You don't want anybody to know you're here, which means, nobody does."
He led them both back into the room. He made sure Emma stood in the corner by pointing the gun at her and he gave Snow a quick injection.
"Forgive me," he asked.
"Jefferson," she whispered pleadingly.
"It's going to be okay," he promised.
Emma shifted and he quickly raised a gun to her and stood up.
"Your telescope – you've been watching me. Why?"
He grabbed her by her arm "I need you to do something."
He shoved her out of the room. Snow lifted her head up and tried to glare, "Don't! Don't you hurt her!"
Jefferson purposefully turned away and closed the door.
And her world slipped back into darkness.
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Snow didn't know how long she slept, but when she woke up she was feeling…a bit more clear headed. Not so much though, it was still a struggle for her to pull herself up into a sitting position. Her head was swimming and she felt her stomach lurching.
She didn't know how long she lay there…maybe an hour before she heard footsteps running. She saw the door open and Emma rushed in. She tugged on Snow's arms and tried to pull her up, "Hey. It's alright. I'm going to get you out of here. You're going to be okay. He can't hurt you anymore."
Snow saw the shadow in the doorway, "Emma! Look out!"
Emma turned and raised her gun but it was too late. He barreled into both of them. Snow was slammed hard against the wall and she collapsed on the ground next to Jefferson and Emma; who went down in a tangle of limbs.
The gun was a few feet away. Emma crawled towards it, but Jefferson grabbed her and yanked her back. He tried crawling on top of her to get to the gun first. Emma gained on him and he grabbed her hair and pulled her backwards. Emma gave a gasp of pain and elbowed him in the face.
Snow felt her energy returning and she struggled to get upright.
Jefferson wrapped his arms around Emma's neck. Emma struggled to shove him off her but he was stronger. He yanked Emma up and threw her against the desk. Emma turned to fight again but it was too late, he had the gun aimed at her.
He put on his hat and smiled. His cravat was gone; the scar that was left from the beheading was there. He gave a bitter smile when Emma saw it, "Off with his head."
Snow stood with the croquet mallet. Jefferson was her friend, but Emma was her daughter. She had thought that Jefferson, at least, wouldn't hurt them. But now that he had a hat that he clearly hoped worked, he wouldn't need them.
She couldn't take the risk that he was calm enough to not hurt her daughter.
She hit him in the back. His body buckled and he turned to her with betrayal in his eyes. Snow couldn't hate him, she understood the 'why', she just couldn't let him hurt her daughter.
He started to raise the gun.
"I'm sorry," she whispered and kicked him out the window.
Her daughter was shaking slightly when Snow stumbled over, "Are you okay?"
Emma nodded, "Yeah."
They both crept to the window and looked down. Snow braced herself for seeing her friend's body sprawled on the ground.
What was she supposed to tell Grace when the curse broke?
But he wasn't there. The only thing that WAS there was the hat. Had it worked? Or had he just run away?
Snow rushed as quickly as she could to the hat and stared down into it. Was he home now? Could he get back?
Emma came from around the house, "There's no sign of him anywhere."
Snow tilted her head, "Do you know who he was?"
"A very lonely man," Emma told her and turned, "By the way, have you been taking kickboxing and not telling me about it?"
Snow clutched the hat in her hands, "I have no idea where that came from."
They walked around to the other side of the house and Snow saw a lump hidden by a tarp, "Emma, look."
Emma pulled the tarp off and happily swung her keys in the air.
Snow smiled gently. It had been such a good plan too, but they'd just have to rework it. Rumpelstiltskin would think of something, he always did, "So, Sheriff, I guess you'll be taking me back now."
Emma tossed the keys to Snow, ""Here. Go."
Snow gave her daughter a confused look, "You want me to run?"
"No, but it's your choice. Just know something – running ain't easy. I've done my share of it. And once you go, there's no stopping."
Snow wished she could get out of here, but that would also mean losing her daughter and Snow couldn't do that, "Emma, everyone thinks I killed Kathryn."
"Mary Margaret, you have to believe me. You have to trust me. I know it seems impossible, but I can get you out of this. When Regina framed me, and you bailed me out, I asked you why. And you said you trusted me. And then, when I wanted to leave Storybrooke cause I thought it was best for Henry, you told me I needed to stay because that was the best for him. And I realized, all my life, I have been alone. Walls up. Nobody's ever been there for me – except for you. And I can't lose that. I cannot lose my family."
That was everything Snow needed to hear. She felt her eyes fill with tears and she smiled, "Family?"
Emma realized her mistake, "Friends. Whatever. You know what I mean. Wouldn't you rather face this together than alone?"
Snow smiled warmly at her daughter and gave her her keys back.
The clock started chiming and Emma looked scared, "The arraignment…"
"I suggest we get going," Snow told her daughter.
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
The ladies were a little worse for wear when they came in. Rumpelstiltskin mentally cursed when Emma brought in Snow because now he had to think of something different to get her out.
Wouldn't be hard. Regina had shot herself in the foot by faking the test results and putting the heart in Snow's music box.
He helped Emma get Snow situated and Emma slipped out of the sheriff's station to get everything ready.
"Are you okay?" he asked
Snow gave a quiet sniffle, "No! I kicked Jefferson out the window!"
He was going to have to ask but there was a part of him that was dreading that story, "Is he alive?"
Snow broke down, "I DON'T KNOW!"
He gave her a gentle embrace and left her a newspaper so she could have something to read after the arraignment. He closed the cell door and got ready for the morning ahead.
A bit later, he heard the infamous clack clacking of Regina's heels and he straightened up from making sure he was impeccably clean in the bathroom. Right on time…
"Madam Mayor," Snow greeted coldly.
Regina froze and gave a cold smile of her own, "Good morning.
Rumpelstiltskin moved in front of her, cutting off Regina's view from Snow, "Excuse me, but my client is not having any visitors."
Regina didn't bother to hide her fuming, "Of course not."
He extended his arm, "I'll see you out."
He followed Regina out the door. Of course he wouldn't miss this chance to gloat.
Regina started in immediately, "What is she doing here?"
He shrugged, "She came back."
Regina leaned forward, "You said this was going to work. That she'd take the key, that she'd go-."
"And she did. But, it seems that Miss Swan is rather more resourceful than we thought," He gave a proud grin. Emma may be stubborn and a bit of a heathen but she was his savior regardless, "Fear not, Your Majesty. Miss Blanchard is still guilty of murder. You may yet get what you want."
"Oh, I better. The only reason I made a deal with you, Gold, is because I wanted results," she sneered.
"And results you shall have," he promised, but didn't promise her that the results would be in her favor, "See you at the arraignment."
He watched Snow turn around and leave.
He needed a new plan.