After leaving Neverland with yet another bottle of mermaid water, Jefferson headed straight to the land without colour. As he hurried through the woods, shuddering slightly at the memories of his last time in them, the plan began to unfold in his head, a flurry of ideas drifting in and out. He so excited by a sudden brainwave that Jefferson almost burst straight through the front door into the Frankenstein residence, his hand freezing by the knocker. He couldn't let Victor know he was back: there was no way that he'd agree to what Jefferson had planned.
"Jefferson?" Elizabeth called faintly.
He turned to see her rushing up the drive, her expression half shocked, half joyous.
"What are you… the Count might see…he's in the carriage!" She said urgently, pushing him towards the gardens.
Another set of footsteps crunched up the gravel and Jefferson ducked down behind a thick bush. He could only see glimpses between the rounded leaves, but Jefferson could make out the long cloak of the Count's brushing against Elizabeth's skirt. The front door opened and he could hear Victor's voice:
"Back so soon? I thought you'd be out until the evening?"
"I...I don't feel well." Elizabeth announced her voice suddenly shakier than before.
"It's probably just pre-wedding nerves," the Count said, and Victor made an unconvinced noise.
Jefferson strained to see more clearly, and though he couldn't see their faces, he could imagine Elizabeth was giving Victor a look that begged him to ignore her lie.
"Well, I suppose I better check you over. Thank you for bringing her back."
Elizabeth and Victor both remained silent until the Count vanished from sight, before beginning to squabble.
"You look fine to me!" Victor snapped, "and the Count brought you home because he was concerned about your health- if you can't get out of this wedding, perhaps the Count won't make such a bad husband."
"Oh, I just threatened to be sick on his cloak: and that creep will never make a good husband!" Elizabeth replied disgustedly.
Their conversation continued in a low tone that Jefferson couldn't hear, and they soon returned inside. Just as Elizabeth was about to leave, she glanced at the bush and then nodded her head towards the gardens. Once the door was safely shut, Jefferson straightened up and headed down the side of the castle towards the gardens.
He soon found Elizabeth's bench and sat down, fiddling with the necklace whilst awaiting her arrival. At the sound of her voice Jefferson hurriedly slipped the pendant back into his pocket and looked up. To his surprise, she wasn't angry, but crying. Elizabeth sat down beside him, wiping at her eyes with a handkerchief.
"I can't believe the nerve of that vampire!" She said, "I can't believe he'd…"
"He'd what?" Jefferson said, concerned.
Elizabeth shook her head, unable to speak as she swallowed hard.
"I just cannot marry him!"
"You won't have to marry him- I have a plan," Jefferson assured her, taking Elizabeth's trembling hands into his, "see, I don't just travel the realms, I also procure...hard to find items... and-"
"You mean you steal things? Victor told me what you do for a living in one of his many warnings to try and keep me from you," Elizabeth interrupted with a laugh.
"Didn't stop you though," Jefferson teased, "and, yes I do steal, in fact that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'll steal your father's will and change it, so that Victor gets the money instead of the Count."
"But what about me?" Elizabeth asked, frowning in confusion, though Jefferson only grew more excited,
"You won't need it! I get paid plenty enough for us both," he said with a grin as Elizabeth's tear stained eyes brightened, "the day after your birthday won't just be your wedding day: it'll be the day you leave this black and white realm. You can be my assistant. We can travel wherever we want..."
"I can finally see a world in colour, and there'll be nobody to tell us what to do, or how to feel, and I can write my stories..." Elizabeth continued ecstatically.
"It's perfect," Jefferson sighed, "but that's not the full plan. There's two parts to it, and I'm afraid you'll still have to attend the wedding, even once I've changed the will. We can't have the Count or Victor suspect anything."
Elizabeth nodded in agreement and for the next half an hour they discussed and developed the plan until every last detail was accounted for.
"Whilst I'm here, I may as well get hold of the will now and then report back to my business partner. I probably won't be able to see you until your birthday, and then, the next time we meet..."
"We'll be running away!" Elizabeth finished with a giggle, placing a kiss on Jefferson's cheek before whispering:
"Good luck. Meet me at the back door of the castle on my birthday- and be careful, okay?"
"I don't need luck," Jefferson cockily replied, tipping his hat before heading from the gardens in the direction of the village.
Somehow, when Jefferson strolled out of the town records library, faint rays of summer sunshine seemed to be breaking through the overcast clouds. Grinning to himself, Jefferson passed by the lifeless buildings that were covered in the sun's hazy white light.
The trip back to the enchanted forest seemed to be a blur in his elated state. Stealing and altering the will had been simple enough: though for the first time ever, Jefferson had felt somewhat guilty by flirting with the receptionist, but he knew it was for Elizabeth's sake.
'Everything's going exactly to plan,' Jefferson thought as he removed each of Rumplestiltskin's requested items and set them on the dining table for inspection, 'Nothing could get in the way…'
"Now that your work for the day is done, you can go: upstairs,to the third room on the left, your bedroom." Rumplestiltskin said.
"What do you mean my bedroom? I haven't lived in this castle for years?" Jefferson said, only half listening.
"I can't have you vanishing again," Rumplestiltskin explained, "so your evenings will be spent here- in this realm."
Jefferson glowered at him, his happiness slowly draining away as he realised what his business partner was implying.
"But you can't do that!" He spluttered, "where I go in my free time is my business: you can't just keep me here like a child! It wasn't even my fault that I was away- I told you, I was attacked by a bloody vampire!"
"I can make you stay here, and I will. It's not up for discussion."
With that, Rumplestiltskin swept off into the potions room. He stopped in the doorway and turned back to Jefferson with a wicked grin.
"You'll find your things upstairs," he added, before closing the door shut behind him.
Furious, Jefferson stared at where his business partner had been stood, words failing him. He glanced up to the top of the stairs, where indeed a few suitcases were magically positioned.
'If that imp thinks I'm staying here, he's got another thing coming.'
Placing his hat firmly on his head, Jefferson stormed to the front door, letting it slam behind him with a satisfying bang. He reached the bottom of the steps and took another step forward-
Jefferson was blasted back by what felt like being punched in the stomach and found he lay dazed on the steps. He stood up and tried again and again, but each time was the same.
"What are you doing?" Regina's bemused voice called from the bottom of the sloping pathway up to the castle.
"You look like…you're walking into an invisible wall!" She laughed good-naturedly, pulling off the headscarf that was wrapped around her hair and hurrying towards him.
Regina reached the point that Jefferson was finding impossible to cross and stepped through without even flinching.
"How come it let you in, and won't let me out?"
"You can't get out?" Regina murmured, "that'll be the measures that Rumplestiltskin said he'd put in. I guess he wants to keep an eye on you. My mother was the same: she enchanted the trees around our estate to grab me every time I tried to run away."
"So he's put up a magic force-field all the way around to stop me leaving?"
Regina nodded, giving him a sympathetic look. Noticing his despondency, she added,
"I'm sure Rumplestiltskin will relent soon enough, but hey, at least we've got each other for company."
Jefferson hoped Rumplestiltskin would relent before the next week. The thought of missing Elizabeth's birthday only darkened his mood. He was so lost in his thoughts that Jefferson didn't initially notice that Regina's arm had wound its way around his shoulder until she whispered in his ear:
"If you want, you can see the magic I've been working on."
Startled, Jefferson jumped and as he turned to face her, Regina's arm hurriedly recoiled. Her cheeks flushed a little.
"I think I'll just take a walk," he replied, giving her a curt nod before rising from his seat on the bottom step.
The heels of Regina's boots clicked as she caught up with him, her hand suddenly grabbing his to make him stop. Jefferson whirled around, trying to ignore the fact that Regina hadn't released his hand.
"I could talk to Rumplestiltskin, if you want? Get him to change his mind?"
"He won't listen," Jefferson said, giving Regina a kindly smile of appreciation.
Her face brightened for a moment, growing ashen when she glanced down. Regina hastily dropped his hand, her cheeks flushing slightly.
"I better go and cast some spells," Regina said.
Jefferson watched her go back to the castle, his brow furrowed in confusion. He didn't want to listen to the voice in the back of his head that mixed with the rest of his worries. Pacing up and down the dark one's barren garden, Jefferson pushed away the mess of thoughts, muttering to himself over and over-
"I have to see Elizabeth on her birthday. I have to."