Hey guys! I'm really sorry this update has taken sooooo long. School and work has been hectic along with some life/family problems, but now I'm back! Thank you all for continuing to support this story! It means a lot that you guys like it. :)

I'm planning to finish up the Enchanted Forest chapters, wrap them up with a pretty bow, and then start writing season two! There will be 2-4 more chapters before I write season two.

That Mischievous Grin

Chapter Seventeen

I Do Not Own Once Upon A Time.

Cheshire sat unmoving on the ledge of a stone wall meant to keep people out of the large castle. It was the castle belonging to Rumpelstiltskin, to be exact. After seeing with her own eyes Aladdin was not in the dungeons back in Regina's castle, Cheshire followed the faint trail of magic back to this place. Regina had been hesitant to let her leave, she still wanted Cheshire's help hunting down Snow White seeing how Cheshire never actually told her where the girl was going. Chess was not going to let that stop her, though.

Aladdin was her first priority. Then, once he was safe, she would help Regina get her revenge. She partly wondered what had gotten into her wanting to help people rather than help herself.

The trail of magic she had been following led her here, to Rumpelstiltskin's castle, but it was... off. Her instincts told her she was being led here on purpose. If that was truly the case, then she would heighten her senses and be on extra alert. She jumped down from the castle wall and landed on all four paws. She prowled through the castle, not surprised to see it deserted, and caught the scent of Aladdin.

She followed the trail down a long corridor lined with colorful windows and a few suits of armor displays. The image of them suddenly coming to life and scaring the daylights out of her momentarily popped into her head. She chuckled to herself which came out as a low and short meow. The corridor ended with stairs to the right, going down, and another corridor to the left. Sniffing the air to get a better sense of where the Aladdin trail was, Cheshire leaned more towards the stairs to the right.

Slow and quiet, she traveled down the stairs until she smelled the strong scent of Aladdin along with powerful magic. A high pitched giggle met her as she rounded the corner from the stairs. It was some sort of dining room with a large narrow table in the center. Rumpelstiltskin sat in a tall chair at the far end of the table.

"I was afraid you wouldn't make it, deary," he said with enthusiasm.

Cheshire grinned, "It was a nice touch, the trail. Scales."

Rumpel laughed again, and then he waved Chess to come in further, "I've been meaning to get in touch with you."

"That's why you took the boy?" She changed into her human form and kept her distance from the scaly man.

"In part," Rumpel stood up and walked to the window, "see I wanted to see you in person, firstly because you have something that belongs to me."

Cheshire was suddenly very aware of the necklace around her neck. It was the strange necklace she found on the bandits who attacked her and Aladdin. She had forgotten about it. She grabbed it, "This what you are referring to?"

Rumpelstiltskin smiled horribly, "Why yes it is. Thank you for keeping it in such good condition!" He went to take it from Cheshire but she disappeared and then reappeared behind him a few feet. He was not surprised at all.

"Tsk tsk, whoever said I'd give it to you?" Cheshire grinned at him with the necklace in her hand stretched out towards him mockingly, "Why don't we make a deal?"

The impish man grinned even wider, if possible, and tapped his fingertips together in glee, "Yes that sounds like a great idea!"

"I give you this necklace and you let Aladdin go free," Cheshire became serious.

Rumpel tapped his chin now, "You think I'm going to trade the life of a boy for a necklace? No no no, see there is something else I want."

"The greedy usually become green, you know. That combined with your current color might make you blue."

"Right you are! As you will soon find out... Regina will soon come across a curse. Many people will try to stop her but I need you to make sure she casts it," Rumpel smiled and added, "I'll even let you keep that necklace."

Cheshire let the pendant swing on the chain she held in her fist. The deal turned in her favor, she realized, so she grinned up at Rumpelstiltskin, "Deal."

The laugh that erupted from his throat was horribly high pitched and full of mischief, but he stopped and held up a piece of parchment with a quill. He pointed the quill at Cheshire, "Sign here please!"

Without really thinking, Cheshire grabbed the quill and quickly signed the contract. As soon as her name was written on the paper, she had a strange feeling. It was only for a moment but she felt a pang of regret. Before she could dwell on it, though, Rumpel spoke.

"The boy is free," He snapped his fingers and Aladdin appeared in a puff of smoke in the middle of the room.

He was frightened, but his features relaxed when he saw Cheshire standing only a few feet away. Cheshire grinned at Rumpelstiltskin, "How will you know if I complete my end of the deal?"

"Oh don't worry about that, deary. I'll know," Rumpel waved his hand and Cheshire found herself outside Regina's castle with Aladdin by her side. Her lip tightly turned upward in annoyance.

Aladdin flung himself at Cheshire in a huge hug causing her to stumble back a few steps just to catch her balance, "Whoa Ace!"

"I'm so so sorry I left with him! I should have waited for you in the dungeons!" He cried.

Cheshire rolled her eyes. Yeah, you should have, she wanted to say, but strangely she just scoffed halfheartedly. He turned his head up to stare at her with tears beginning to well up. Chess hated crying and sappy moments like these, so in hopes of cheering him up she grinned and said, "C'mon kid, we're all victims in waiting."

Aladdin seemed a little confused but her grin cheered him up, so he smiled back and nodded ferociously.

"Now then, since Rumpelstiltskin so kindly dropped us off right where we need to be, let's go shall we?" Cheshire pried Aladdin's arms off from around her waist and started to walk to the castle gates. She assumed Regina would not be happy with her- having run off so suddenly without telling her where to find Snow White. In the back of her mind she kept thinking about the deal she made with Rumpelstiltskin. It seemed harmless enough other than the curse and all, and now that she thought about it, she really knew nothing about the necklace. She sighed and continued to make her way up to the castle gates. One thing at a time, she told herself.

Thanks for reading and the support! I apologize it's short but I wanted to hurry with this chapter so you guys would know I haven't abandoned it. :)

One more thing: I'd be really interested in a Beta for this story and the next "season", so if any of you is interested contact me via PM.