It was two weeks since Graham died. Instead of Emma being promoted sheriff, Regina chose Sidney Glass and fired Emma.
"Everyone deserves to feel safe in their own homes." Regina told the press, "That's why Sidney Glass is my choice for post of sheriff. This man has put the needs of Storybrooke above his own for as long as any of us can remember, as chief editor of the Storybrooke 'Daily Mirror'. Please welcome your new sheriff."
"It should be Emma." Max mumbled as Regina pinned the badge onto Sidney.
"Excuse me, what was that Ms. Hart?"
Max put on a fake smile, "Nothing, Madame Mayor."
"That's what I thought." Regina replied.
"Hang on a second." Everyone turned around and saw Emma,
"Oh, Ms. Swan, this is not appropriate." Regina said.
"The only thing not appropriate is this ceremony. She does not have the power to appoint him." Emma retorted.
"The town charter clearly states 'the mayor shall appoint-"
"A candidate." Emma interrupted, "You can appoint a candidate. It calls for an election."
"The term 'candidate' is applied loosely." Regina replied.
"No, it's not. It requires a vote. And guess what, Madame Mayor, I'm running."
"Fine. So is Sidney." Regina responded.
"I am?" Sidney questioned and Regina gave him a look, "I am."
"With my full support." Regina smiled, "I guess we'll learn a little something about the will of the people."
"I guess we will."
Later that night, Max was packing up her things and was about to head home when Emma stormed in,
"Emma, I'm sorry about what it said in the papers." Max said.
"Is she in here?" Emma asked.
"Yeah-" Max didn't get to finish her sentence as Emma walked into the office.
She grabbed her purse and followed the two women out towards the exit of town hall while Emma ranted to Regina about Henry then about the debate.
"You need to be careful who get into bed with." Regina said as she went towards the door.
"I'm not getting into bed with anyone. I'm just fighting fire with-"
Regina opened the door and there was an explosion, throwing the three women back. Emma sat there, stunned, and Max got up and threw the burning wood off Regina, burning her hand.
"Ow! Shit!" Max exclaimed and looked down at her hand.
"You okay?" Emma asked.
"Yeah, it's fine. Just a small burn." Max answered.
"Come on, let's get out of here."
"I can't move! My leg!" Regina said, "You have to get me out of here. Help me."
Just as Maddie set down a plate of fries in front of a customer, she felt her hand burning.
"Crap!" She wrapped her hand in the apron and walked into the back.
Maddie looked at her hand and saw burn marks.
"Maddie, are you okay?" Ruby asked, walking into the back with her.
"Max's in trouble." Maddie said.
"Where is she?"
"At town hall. There's a fire." Maddie answered before running out of the diner.
Maddie ran down the street as fast as she could towards the smoke. She arrived just as the firemen did.
"Max!" She yelled and hugged her sister, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Maddie." Max coughed.
"You are a hero." Ruby said to Emma as Maddie and Max walked over.
"We should see if they have a picture of the rescue." Mary Margret said.
"Oh, they do. Once we wal ked out I was blinded by a camera flash." Max replied.
"We can make campaign poster." Granny suggested.
"Oh, people would love that. That's a great idea!" Archie exclaimed.
The group except for Emma and Henry all went down to Granny's Diner to make the posters. As they did, Maddie helped Max with her hand without Max finding out her hand was burned also.
The next morning, before the debate at town hall, Mary Margret and Max went around, stapling posters.
"Max Hart, what do you think you're doing?" Regina questioned, walking up to her.
"Putting up posters, why?" Max asked.
"Of Ms. Swan. Are you rooting for her?"
"Well, I wouldn't be putting posters up of her if I wasn't." Max answered as she moved on.
Just as she was about to put a staple into the poster, Regina spoke,
"If you put that staple in, you're fired."
Max paused and turned around, "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Put that staple in and you're fired." Regina smirked, hands on her hips.
Without looking, Max put the staple in.
"Oops." Max smiled and walked past Regina.
As Max put up the last poster, two hands touched her shoulders. Max let out a small squeak and she turned around, aiming her staple gun at the person.
"We should really stop meeting like this." Jefferson smiled at her.
"Jefferson, hi." Max smiled.
"What happened to your hand?" Jefferson asked.
Max looked down at her bandaged hand, "Oh, nothing. I, um, I was in town hall last night when the fire started. I stupidly grabbed a burning piece of wood."
"You're okay, though, right?"
"Yeah, totally. It will disappear in a few days." Max told him.
"Mm." Jefferson gave a pouty look and read the poster, "Emma for sheriff, then, huh?"
"She deserves it." Max replied as they began walking towards town hall for the debate,
"Won't Regina be mad that you're rooting for her?" Jefferson asked.
"Already is. She fired me." Max said.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, but it's okay. Kinda glad, actually." Max replied. "You know, there's a celebration at Granny's for the new sheriff after the debate."
"Oh really?"
"Mmhmm. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me." Max smiled up at Jefferson.
"Sure." He winked down at her and they entered town hall.
Max sat down next to Henry, and on the other side of her was Jefferson. On the other side of Henry was Maddie and she noticed Jefferson. But before she could ask Max about it, the curtains opened.
"Tragedy has brought us here, but we are faced with this decision, and now we ask only that you listen with an open mind and to please vote your conscience." Archie said,
"He's so obviously Jiminy Cricket." Max heard her sister whisper to Henry.
"I know, Archie was the first one I could figure out who he was in the fairy tale world." Henry whispered back.
'Fairy tales aren't real.' Max thought.
"So without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to the candidates, Sidney Glass and Emma Swan. Glass. Swan. Sounds like something that a decorator would make you buy." Archie joked and Max covered her mouth with her hand so she wouldn't laugh, "Wow. Crickets."
'She always loved the stupid jokes' Jefferson thought, staring down at Max with sad eyes.
The only person who noticed was Maddie and Regina.
"Okay, uh, Mr. Glass, your opening statement."
Sidney stood up and walked over to the podium, "I just wanted to say that if elected, I want to serve as a reflection of the best qualities of Storybrooke. Honesty, neighborliness, and strength. Thank you."
As people clapped, Archie went back up, "And Emma Swan."
"You guys all know I have... what they call a, uh, troubled past." Emma began.
'Who doesn't in this town?' Maddie thought.
"But you've been able to overlook it because of the, um... hero thing. But here's the thing... the fire was a setup." Emma said, "Mr. Gold agreed to support me in this race, but I didn't know that that meant he was going to set a fire. I don't have definitive evidence, but I'm sure. And the worst part of all this was... the worst part of all of this is I let you all think it was real... and I can't win that way. I'm sorry." When Emma finished, Mr. gold stood up and left the building.
Emma won the sheriff job, and Maddie left to go help Ruby set up the celebration party at Granny's. Jefferson excused himself, saying that he had to go talk to Mr. Gold, and that he would meet up with Max later. While Jefferson yelled at Mr. Gold for starting the fire and 'hurting' Max, the twin sisters talked.
"So, who was the guy?" Maddie asked, nudging her sister.
"His name's Jefferson. We're just friends." Max answered.
"Just friends? Oh, sister, no girl is 'just friends' with a guy like that." Maddie replied.
"'A guy like that'? What kind of guy is he?" Max asked.
"The devilishly handsome type. The guy looks like a god. Maybe if you're lucky, he'll take his shirt off for you." Maddie joked.
"Maybe." Max joked back and stared at the amber liquid in her glass,
"Momma, stop, please!" A seven year old girl cried before her drunken mother slapped her,
"Shut up, you little brat!"
"Momma, you're spending all of our money on alcohol, what about food?" The girl asked.
"God! You're so selfish! Food, food, food, that's all you worry about!" The mother exclaimed. "Food and yourself!"
"I'm sorry, momma." The girl cried and her mother pinned her to the wall,
"You better be. Now clean this place up! I'm going out tonight." The mother walked towards the door, "It better be cleaned by the time I get back."
"You okay?" Maddie asked Max.
"Yeah, I just... don't like to drink much." Max answered, pushing the glass away.
'Never did.' Maddie thought.