Jefferson sat at the oak dining table, rubbing away the sleep from the corners of his eye, the hazy kitchen growing clearer. The log burning stove was crackling across the room, a kettle perched on top. Jefferson stared into the flames, watching the orange embers flicker, consuming the logs.
"Hey,"
Jefferson started at the voice, relaxing as Elizabeth placed her lips to his ear, the lingering scent of musk and pine cones filling his senses.
"It's only me!" She said, sliding into the empty chair opposite him.
Elizabeth unceremoniously dumped an overflowing basket onto the table top. A few blackberries fell and rolled across the table. Both Jefferson and Elizabeth reached for them, his hand resting on hers as they caught the stray berries. Jefferson shared a smile with her before pinching the blackberry and eating it.
"You wouldn't mind getting the kettle?" He asked, nodding over at the whistling kettle.
Elizabeth poured them both cups of tea and washed the blackberries. Settling into her seat, she stirred them into her steaming porridge. Jefferson was still absent-mindedly stirring his tea: his own breakfast of toast remained untouched.
"You better eat up," Elizabeth said, glancing back at the ornate clock over the stove," Rumplestiltskin wants us at eight."
Jefferson didn't reply- he couldn't get the threat of Regina from his mind, and the mention of his business partner only furthered his worries. He couldn't shake the cynical musings at to why Rumplestiltskin had allowed him to have Elizabeth as his assistant and just how much the dark one knew.
'Even if he has forgotten my infatuation: if Regina tells Rumplestiltskin of my true feelings...'
"Jefferson- what's wrong?" Elizabeth's voice pulled him from his thoughts once more. She was looking at him with concern, immediately making him guilty.
"It wasn't last night, was it?" She asked tentatively, taking a sip of tea to hide her burning cheeks.
"No, no of course not!" Jefferson said truthfully, smiling fondly as he recalled the previous night.
Resolving to stop Elizabeth worrying about him, Jefferson pushed his fears away and ate the toast, taking the occasional blackberry from the basket.
"I'm amazed you managed to collect so many: I'm pretty sure there was only one bush when I brought this place."
"Oh there's more than one bush now!" Elizabeth laughed, looking over at the garden,
"I don't suppose you've been doing much gardening?"
"I may have many talents, but gardening isn't one of them. If you want, you could do up the garden: to make up for the one back in the land without colour?"
Elizabeth's face lit up at the offer and she nodded vigorously, swallowing the last of her tea. Jefferson had just finished his toast and he rose, checking the time.
"It'll take too long to walk- I'll go grab the hat."
He returned a few minutes later, fastening his cravat, the hat resting on his head. Elizabeth pulled back on the cloak that she'd been wearing in the garden and took Jefferson's arm as the hat began to spin before them.
"Hold on tight," Jefferson said, giving Elizabeth a reassuring smile before they jumped.
"What are we looking for again?" Asked Elizabeth, her voice somewhat relaxed, though Jefferson could see her apprehensive glances around the market place.
All around them, townspeople bustled by, eager to make the most of the pleasant Sunday morning. With so many people around, Jefferson knew pulling off their heist would be easier than ever. Elizabeth had already proved herself to be the perfect partner in the crime after several successful heists earlier in the day.
"A dream-catcher: specifically a brown one, with golden thread and dove's feathers," Jefferson replied, nodding over to a stall on the opposite side of the market, where a dream-catcher matching the description hung alongside a broken mirror.
Elizabeth turned her head, taking in the stall and it's contents before looking back at Jefferson.
"You do the talking- I'll steal. Remember the signal to leave?"
Elizabeth nodded, "You 'accidentally' catch your elbow in my side."
"Excellent. After this, we can report back and hopefully get the rest of the day off. How does exploring Arendelle sound?"
"Sounds good to me!" Elizabeth smiled, taking a deep breath before striding over to the stall selling the dream-catcher.
Jefferson strayed on the other side, watching as Elizabeth began to chat to the stall owner before wandering over. He pretended to browse through the oddities on sale, waiting for exactly the right moment to take the drean-catcher. Elizabeth had the stall owner, whom he suspected was a witch, distracted with questions on a peculiar object she'd picked up. Seizing his chance, Jefferson leant over as though he was closely observing the mirror, his hand reaching out to grab the dream-catcher.
Jefferson glanced into the mirror, stopping short at the reflection. As he stared, he felt like he was being pulled through the hat's portal- but instead through the mirror.
Suddenly, he was inside a room. The walls were lined with grey, tree patterned wallpaper, and various, rather expensive looking items were strewn around the room: though that wasn't what caught his eye. Sat on the desk was a hat- precisely like his. There was a pair of scissors beside the hat, and Jefferson realised there were more replicas of his hat, all dumped unceremoniously on the floor beneath the desk.
His confusion increased as he took in the rest of the room: a telescope, pointed at the house next door, a tea set with two cups set on saucers, as though there were two people, though Jefferson could only see the figure who was staring into the telescope. As the figure straightened up, Jefferson felt as though his heart had stopped as he realised who the figure was: him.
He was older, dressed slightly differently- a scarf around his neck rather than a cravat. Nonetheless, Jefferson recognised himself, watching as the other him let out a silent cry, grabbing one of the cups and throwing it across the room, though Jefferson couldn't hear it smashing: or the words the other him was shouting.
As though someone had pulled him back by the collar of his coat, Jefferson seemed to snap out of the image, back to the market place. No time seemed to have passed- Jefferson could just hear Elizabeth finishing the question she'd begun asking before he'd looked into the mirror. Filled with the sudden desire to leave and try to comprehend what he'd seen, Jefferson quickly grabbed the dream-catcher and slipped it into his coat. He nudged Elizabeth's shoulder and she whirled around. Jefferson muttered an apology and hurried away, slipping into the crowd, listening out for Elizabeth making her excuses to leave.
"Stop thief!" A voice cried.
The crowd around him parted and to Jefferson's horror, the boy who'd shouted was pointing directly at him. Panic set in and Jefferson made a run for it, darting through the crowd as fast as he could. He'd made it as far as the market gates when an hand caught his arm. Defensively, Jefferson turned and threw a punch in the direction of the person who'd grabbed him. Breathing heavily, he turned properly to see Elizabeth backing away, her hands clamped over her nose.
"Elizabeth! I'm so sorry," he gasped, staring in horror at her.
Elizabeth had sunk onto a nearby stone, tentatively removing her hands to reveal blood was streaming down her face.
"I'll heal it," Jefferson offered.
Elizabeth shook her head, glancing over at the market, where the angered townspeople were trapped behind the gates.
"I put up the gate but it won't hold them," she said, her voice muffled, "we need to go!"
She rose and Jefferson wrapped an arm around her, hurriedly throwing his hat to the ground.
The jolt of the hat shook Elizabeth, the flow of blood from her nose only increasing, her hands completely covered in blood. Elizabeth had turned paler than she'd been in the land without colour, her knee's buckling as though she was going to faint. Keeping tight hold of her, Jefferson passed a trembling hand over her face. To his relief, the blood stopped, the colour returning to Elizabeth's cheeks as her fingers felt her nose, which was no longer broken.
"I'm afraid I'm not very good with blood," Elizabeth said.
"That's alright- usually when I steal I don't accidentally punch my assistant," Jefferson said, before adding in an undertone, "or get caught."
"You saw something in that mirror, didn't you? I looked over, and you seemed transfixed," Elizabeth said.
At first Jefferson didn't reply. Her words made the images come flooding back, though he had no idea how to describe what he'd seen.
"I saw myself," he replied eventually, his voice hollow.
Sensing she wasn't going to be getting a further explanation, Elizabeth gave a nod, reaching up to place a hand on his cheek, rousing Jefferson from his thoughts.
"Come on, the sooner we get these items to Rumplestiltskin, the sooner we can visit Arendelle," she softly reminded him.
"Indeed," Jefferson said, winding his fingers around Elizabeth's, her touch comforting him and he pressed his lips to her forehead before following Elizabeth through the wooden door to the enchanted forest.