Title: The integrity of your revolution

Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Denise Levertov

Warnings: violence, death, implied rape, AU during season 1

Pairings: none

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 1050

Point of view: third

Prompt: Author's choice, author's choice, "The air in your lungs, the blood in your veins, the steel in your spine, the fire in your eyes."

Jefferson watches the town as everyone realizes Regina Mills is missing. He doesn't leave his property because he'd rather the Savior have no need to remember him, but he watches.

Emma takes custody of the boy and leads a search, but there's nothing. Henry keeps trying to convince her of the curse, but – as Rumpelstiltskin complained about – without an Evil Queen to fight, the Savior is only a woman with an imaginative child.

Grace is still happy, as she always is. With 28 years to gather knowledge and ponder things, Jefferson has wondered at Regina's 'revenge.' It is not a bad ending, Storybrooke. No one knows who they truly are and they live the same days over and over (or they did) – but boredom is not the same as unhappiness. And Jefferson's existence with both lives in his head is a true punishment in a way no one (not even Snow White and Prince Charming) else suffered.

Had Jefferson cast the curse – well, he knows he's not a good man. But Grace is happy and that's what matters, now.

.

It isn't long before the rabble realizes who had the greatest motive to get rid of the mayor and they turn on the stranger in their midst: Emma Swan. While she curls up in the cell, Henry reads to her from that odd book; Jefferson goes to another telescope to see how Grace is.

Rumpelstiltskin bangs on the door, shouting, "Jeffrey's son! You have ruined centuries of work!"

Jefferson crosses his arms, leans against the doorway, raises an eyebrow. "Have I?"

Rumpelstiltskin's fingers tighten on his cane. It's been a long time since Jefferson saw him this angry, and the anger wasn't directed at him, then. He'd turned priceless artifacts to dust in his rage.

"Remember, Dark One," Jefferson cautions him, "there is no magic here." He smiles as Rumpelstiltskin visibly forces himself calm down, to back off. "Without Regina, this town is yours. Take it in hand, Mr. Gold."

"You're right, of course," Rumpelstiltskin murmurs. "I can still make this work." He tries to glare Jefferson down but Jefferson just smirks as Rumpelstiltskin turns and hobbles away. At the end of the path, Rumpelstiltskin glances over his shoulder. "And after I've my magic back, dearie?" he asks.

"You saying you won't need a man who travels far and sees much?" Jefferson calls, still smirking. "A thief, who's also an assassin?"

"Jeffrey's son," Rumpelstiltskin mutters, "it would be so easy to hate you."

Jefferson laughs and closes the door.

.

Of course, there is no evidence at all, so Mr. Gold commands they release Emma. She goes home to the schoolteacher who is actually her mother, who has been caring for her son, and Rumpelstiltskin ever so subtly pulls strings, attempting to spin gold from the tattered remnants of his grand plan.

How to convince someone magic exists in a world with no magic? Jefferson tries not to cackle as he watches Emma stare at the former Dark One in bemusement, but he fails.

Rumpelstiltskin succeeds in convincing Emma that such an enormous string of coincidences could not exist except by magic. It doesn't break the curse and Rumpelstiltskin destroys the front room of his pawn shop in rage.

Through the scope, Jefferson sees the moment Emma takes the book from Henry with a deep sigh. "I love you, kid," she murmurs, leaning down to kiss his forehead. Jefferson tilts his head back as the wave of magic blows through Storybrooke.

He laughs as the rabble began to shout and cry, as they turn to Snow White and Prince Charming, as Henry jumps up and down chanting, "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"

.

Jefferson smooths down his coat, takes a breath, and knocks on the door.

"I was wondering when you'd get here," Greta says with a smile. "She never gave up, you know, back home. Waitin' for you, I mean."

"I know," Jefferson murmurs. "May I see her?"

"Of course, Jefferson. Come in." Greta steps back and turns, calling, "Pa – Grace! You've a visitor!"

He hears a shriek, and then rushing footsteps down stairs, and then a whirlwind with dark blonde hair hits him, clinging tight. "Papa!"

"Oh, Grace," he whispers, "my darling, darling Grace." He leans back against the wall, holding her, and he thinks, What to do now?

"I'll give you a moment," Greta says, vanishing down the hall.

"Papa," Grace asks, "where have you been? I prayed and wished every night."

He laughs a little, kissing the top of her head. "That, my dear, is a long story. I think that for now, I should speak with Greta and Frank, see about bringing you home."

She nods but doesn't loosen her hold, so he stands back up straight and reaches for a better grip, carrying her further into the house.

.

There are many things he could tell her. She is the age now that he was when his mother died, when he learned how to survive. Thankfully, their neighbors back home were good people and treated her well. Had they not been – but they were. And Regina's mystifying curse kept them together, giving Grace a good life.

He could tell her of his life before the Dark One came calling. Could tell her of the things he did in the Dark One's employ and the employ of others, the things he did for fun. Could tell her the truth of her birth, or the countless ages he spent in Wonderland.

Instead, he tells her, "I once had a friend in common with the queen, and he told her of a gift I had. An ability, you could say." He spins her a tale of magic and wonder, and a trick that saw him trapped in a world from which he could not escape. It is true, all of it, and she cries and hugs him as tight as she can.

She falls asleep still clinging to him. She looks so much like his mother. Jefferson kisses her forehead, gently detaches her, and leaves the door open behind him. In the hallway, there is a mirror. He glares at the man looking back and turns sharply away.

The first time they met, the Dealmaker told him he looked like his father. He's just glad Grace didn't receive that curse, as well.