In the enchanted forest James landed outside in the courtyard of the castle he lived in with David his mother and his father. He morphed back into his human form and smiled as a second dragon landed in the courtyard. That dragon morphed back into his human self and David was standing there. James walked over and high fived David. He wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulder. "Your getting faster David" James said. David shook his head. "I'm still not fast enough. You beat me back to the castle" he said. Now James shook his head. "Don't worry you'll get there" James said. "You think" David asked. Now James nodded his head. "Trust your older, wiser and better looking brother. I know what I'm talking about" James said letting go of David. "Your only 5 minutes older, I think I might be a little wiser and we have the same face" David said. James smiled teasingly. "Yea but it works on me" he said jokingly. David smiled back at him.
"Lets see how good you look with a black eye" David said. The two brothers started horsing around when their fun was interrupted. "Boys" someone called out. They looked up and saw their father, Mephisto standing there. They let go of each other. "Hi dad" James said knowing it was better for everyone not to start a fight with him. David however did not feel the same way. "What do you want" David asked rudely. He hated his father and knew that his father felt the same way about him. His father never let a day go by when he didn't tell David he was a mistake and never should have been born. David used to be scared of his father but he wasn't anymore. He was 17 and had been abused enough by him. In two more months when he turned 18 he could leave and never see his father again. Of course he'd still see James and his mother but his father he wanted nothing to do with. "David go inside and try not to be so useless. I have to talk to your brother" Mephsito said not looking at David
"Whatever you have to say to James you can say to me" David said. James shook his head. Just once he wished David didn't talk back to their father. It would make things so much easier. Mephisto finally turned to David. He walked up to him. He placed his hands on David's shoulders. "You might want to be more grateful that for your whole pathetic life I've given you a place to live. From the day you were born I knew you were going to be a disappointment. I wanted to get rid of you but your mother wouldn't let me. The least you could do is listen to what your told" Mephisto said. His father's words used to hurt David but know he didn't care anymore. He only had to deal with him for two more months. David shrugged his fathers hands off his shoulders and scoffed. "Believe me your not the one who has had to suffer. I'm the one who's had to call you my father. I wouldn't have made that choice if I could but unfortunately I wasn't able to make that choice" David said.
"You've always been ungrateful for everything me and your mother have given you and James. We raised you and the thanks we get is you talking back to us. I knew we should have given you away" Mephisto said. David shook his head. "I listen to mom it's just you and I'm so sorry you actually had to be a father. That's so sad for you but hey we should be so lucky. All the abuse me and James have had to put up with from you yea we're lucky all right. Your father of the year" David practically screamed at his father. "Apparently none of that "abuse" as you call it has worked. You still don't know your place. Here let me teach you" Mephisto raised his hand. James was ready to run between his father and his brother to save David but Maleficent walked into the courtyard. "David I need your help with something" she called trying to save her son from the abuse he was about to endure. David looked at his mother. "Now David" she said in a tone that told him she was serious.
"That's right. Be a good momma's boy and go help your mother" Mephisto said. David looked between his two parents and started to walk to his mother. Mephisto grabbed his arm roughly and stopped him. He leaned in close to David's ear. "She won't always be around to protect you" Mephisto whispered letting him go. David glared at his father. "David" Maleficent called again. David walked over to Maleficent and they disappeared into the castle. Mephisto turned to James and smiled. "James I have a very special assignment for you" he said taking James's shoulders and walking him deeper into the courtyard. "Why me" James asked. "Your my favorite son and I know I can trust you unlike your brother you can't even lace his boots without your mother's help" Mephisto said. James shook his head. "Your wrong about David. He's not worthless" he said. Now Mephisto shook his head. "I know you love your brother but he brings you down. Your meant for great things. Your brother is not" Mephisto said.
"I disagree. David is good at a lot of things" James said. Mephisto laughed. "Like what" he asked. "David is the best swordfighter in the whole castle and he has the biggest heart I've ever seen from anyone. He would help anyone who was in trouble" James said. Mephisto shook his head. "Your brother is soft. Anyway I'm done talking about my disappointment of a son" he said and conjured up a list. "I need you to get these ingredients for me" he said handing James the list. James looked at the list. "Why can't you do it" he asked. "I have business to attend to. I will be gone for a week. I expect you back with the ingredients by that time" Mephisto said. James looked unsure but before James could say anything Mephisto just smiled an evil smile at him. "I'd hate for anything to happen to you, your brother and your mother but you know accidents happen all the time" Mephisto said. James glared at his father. He knew threating David and Maleficent would get James to say yes. "Fine I'll do it" James said.
James said goodbye to David and Maleficent, turned into a dragon and flew off. All he had to do was get the ingredients and return home. Simple. There was no need for his father to get angry and take it out on David or his mother. James was flying high in the sky when all of a sudden out of nowhere a net flew up and caught him. He wound up falling to the ground. "We got him. We're going to be rich" one of the men who captured him said. James saw three men surrounding him. He was really mad. His parents had always told him humans were evil and they wanted nothing more than to make money by selling his wings. James got up to his full dragon height and bit threw the net. He was going to stop these humans. He swatted two of them away with his hand. The third one grabbed a rope and lassoed it around his neck. James shook his head and the man flew across the forest. James used his claw to cut the rope and then before he knew what had happened one of the men had stabbed him with a dragon blade.
James roared out in pain. He fell to the floor weak. The three men surrounded him again. One of them pulled out a sword. "Now that's more like it" the man said as he raised the sword. "Leave him alone" a woman called out running up to them. "He's obviously hurt" she said. The other two men grabbed her. "Let go of me" she yelled as they held her tightly. She struggled in their grasp. The man with the sword walked over to her and smiled. "Now what have we got here? A girl who sympathizes with this monster" the man said. "The only monster I see here is you" she said. The man laughed. "What's your name" he asked. "Regina" she said struggling. "Well Regina we will deal with you later right now I'm going to claim my prize" he said walking back over to James who was still on the floor. The man raised his sword again but James used his tail to swat him away. The other two men let go of Regina and ran at James. He used his tail to swat them away with their friend. Once all three men were together James used the last of his strength to stand up on his four legs and blew fire at them. The men screamed as the fire engulfed them. James turned to Regina and they looked into each other's eyes for a brief moment. Then James fell to floor the excitement to much. He morphed back into his human form. Regina walked over to him. "It's going to be OK. Everything's going to be OK" was the last thing he heard before he fell into unconsciousness.
In Storybrooke it was night and David was sitting in his truck watching James and Regina's house. He needed to get in there to see what they had on Graham. There had to be some reason Graham was lying to him and working with them so closely. He wanted to trust Graham he really did but after seeing him leaving their house the other day and him hugging Regina he knew something was going on. Whatever it was David was sure it was in that house. He had been sitting in his truck long enough to know that James was the only one home right now. David needed him to leave so he could search the house. He had been sitting there for hours and was ready to go back to the station when James walked out of the house. James got into his car and drove away. This was David's chance. He got out of his truck, put on gloves and walked up to the house. He tried the front door but it was locked. David looked around to make sure no one was watching and he started to pick the lock.
Once David got the door open he walked in and closed the door behind him. The house was dark and he didn't want to alert the neighbors by turning on the lights. He took out flashlight from inside his leather jacket and turned it on. He started looking for anything James and Regina might have had on Graham. He checked upstairs in all of the rooms and found nothing. He went back downstairs and picked the lock to their office and walked in. He picked the locks to the desk drawers and found nothing in there or the rest of the office. He walked out and into the living room. He searched everywhere but found nothing until he got to a table in the living room. He opened the drawer and took everything out. There were just papers on the town and some photos of James Regina and Henry. David was putting everything back when he noticed the bottom of the drawer move. He took everything out and removed the bottom of the drawer.
David shined the flashlight in there and found two boxes. He took them out and opened them and was shocked by what he saw. Memory crystals. This must be how James and Regina were able to keep making Henry forget about what was going on in Storybrooke. David had learned about memory crystals from his mother. Once they were used on someone they bonded with them which meant they could only be used on that one person. He knew on of them was used on Henry but who was the other one used on? David closed the boxes and put them in his pocket. He would have to find out later. He put the drawer back together and put the papers back. He walked out of the house and went to his truck. He drove away heading back to the station. He didn't find anything that could help him with Graham but he did find something that could possibly help with Henry. This was a step in the right direction for him and Emma.
Emma was in the police station with Graham. "We already had this conversation. We can't tell my dad about us because he wouldn't understand. He would freak out and get way to overprotective for no reason. Trust me I've dealt with this my whole life. I love my dad but when comes to me dating he gets really crazy" Emma said. Graham shook his head. "I understand that but I work with him. I can't just keep lying to him" he said. Emma smiled and walked over to Graham. She wrapped her arms around him. "Look let's just give it a little more time until I figure out how to tell him. Once I do we won't have to hide anymore" she said. "What if he's not OK with it" Graham asked now having second thoughts. "Well he's just going to have to accept I'm not his little girl anymore. I'm 18 and I can make my own decisions" Emma said. Graham smiled at her. "Once we don't have to hide anymore I'm going to take you on a date. Somewhere nice and expensive" Graham said.
"I'd like that" Emma said smiling and kissing Graham. Graham saw images flash before him. He saw a wolf in a forest. James and Regina dressed in all black and really weird. They looked like a king and queen out of a storybook or something. Then he saw a flash of Mary Margeret and who he assumed was David kissing and they were dressed really weird too. Mary looked like some sort of princess and David looked like a prince. He broke off the kiss and held his head like he was in pain. Emma looked up at him worriedly. "Are you OK" she asked. Graham nodded his head. "Yea I just have a little headache" he said. Before Emma could ask any more questions David walked in. He stopped when he saw Emma and Graham. "Emma what are you doing here" David asked. Emma jumped when she heard her dad. "Hi dad. I was just helping Graham out with some stuff. He even gave me a badge" she said clipping the badge on her belt. Just then the ground shook. The three of them looked at each other.
Just then the phone started to ring. Emma looked down at the badge on her belt realization hitting her. "Sheriff's station" Graham said answering the phone. David and Emma looked at each other each thinking the same thing. This was part of the curse breaking. "We'll be right there" Graham said as he hung up the phone. "There was a big explosion and know there's a big hole over where the mines are" he said. "An explosion? What do you think it came from" Emma asked. "I don't know but that's what we got to figure out" Graham said walking out of the station. Emma went to follow but David stopped her. "Maybe you should stay here" he said. "What" she asked. "Me and Graham will go check it out and if I feel like it has anything to do with the curse I'll let you know" David said. "It obviously does. I have to go" Emma said. "Fine but you stay with me" David said. Emma nodded her head. They left the station and got in David's truck. As long as Emma was with him and not Graham he was happy.
Minutes before the ground shook James was down in the mines with Maleficent. They were having dinner together. "I can't wit for you to see it mom. Henry's a natural. I think he'd have a real knack for making potions" James said talking about Henry's science project which he got an A on. He was so proud of his son and couldn't wait until he could show his mother. "I'm excited to see it" Maleficent said sadly. Ever since James lied to her about David not wanting to see her she had been sad. He didn't understand it. He wished he didn't have to see David every day. All his mother needed was him. David couldn't manipulate her and turn her against him anymore. He hugged her. "I'm sorry David doesn't want to come to see you. I tried everything to get him to come down but he just won't" James said. Maleficent pulled back and smiled at her son. "I know you did and I appreciate it. At least I have you and Henry" Maleficent said. James nodded his head. "You always will" he said.
Just then the ground started to shake. Rocks fell from the ceiling and the mines were shaking. A rock fell and was about to hit Maleficent but James pushed her out of the way and it hit James on the head instead and he fell to the ground unconscious. "James" Maleficent yelled. She got James up to a sitting position against Snow's coffin. She tried to wake him to make sure he was OK. "James wake up right now. You are not allowed to leave me or Regina or Henry" Maleficent cried. The mines stopped shaking. James slowly opened his eyes. "Mom what happened" James asked weakly. "Everything was shaking and you saved my life" Maleficent said. Realization hit James. "Regina, Henry I have to make sure they're OK" James said trying to get up. Maleficent lightly pushed him back down. "Your weak. You need time to heal. I'm sure they're fine. You need to rest" she said. James reached out for Maleficent's hand. "Mom please stay with me" James said. Maleficent smiled at him. "Of course I will" she said sitting down nest to him. He laid his head in her lap like he used to when he was a little boy. He felt safe with his mother. She started singing the same lullaby she sang to him and David when they were younger. "I love you mom" James said. "I love you too" Maleficent said. After five minutes James was asleep. Maleficent looked down at her baby boy sleeping. At least one of her sons didn't completely hate her. She kissed James on the forehead and stayed with him all night like she promised she would.
Above ground their were men shouting as their was a big hole in the ground. Graham David and Emma arrived at the crime scene at the same time as Regina did. Regina got out of her car. "Everyone, step back, please" Regina said walking in front of the crowd that had formed in front of the hole in the ground. "Is that a crater" Ruby asked. "No, there were tunnels, old mines. Something collapsed" Marco said pointing at the hole. David Emma and Graham walked up to the crater. Regina walked up to them. "Sheriff, set up a police perimeter. Marco, why don't you help the fire department" Regina ordered. She saw Emma standing with David and Graham. "David this isn't bring your daughter to work day. Take her home" Regina ordered. "Actually she's working with us for the night" Graham said. Regina looked at Graham. "They say the mayor's always the last to know. You guys can go help with crowd control" Regina said.
David and Emma walked to the crowd to try to calm them down. Regina stepped in front of the hole. "People of Storybrooke, don't be alarmed. We've always known this area was honeycombed with old mining tunnels but fear not, me and my husband are going to undertake a project to make this area safe, to rehabilitate it into city use" Regina said. David saw Archie and Henry arrive. "We will bulldoze it, collapse it, pave it" Regina finished. "Pave it? What if there's something down there" Henry asked. "Henry, what are you doing here" Regina asked. "What's down there" Henry asked. "Nothing. Now step back. In fact, everyone, please, please, step back. Thank you" Regina said as everyone started to leave. Regina looked at the ground and saw something. She picked it up. It was a glass shard from Snow White's coffin. Henry saw the shard in her hand. Regina put it in her pocket. Henry walked up to David. "My mom took something" Henry said.
"What are you talking about" David asked. "My mom picked up a glass shard and put it in her pocket" Henry said. Before David could answer Regina walked up to them and dragged Henry away from David. "Henry, this is a safety issue. Wait in the car. We will talk to your father when we get home" she said as Henry walked to the car. David looked around. "Where's James? I would think both the mayors would want to be here right now" David said. Regina rolled her eyes. "He had business to take care of. Now cordon off the area" Regina said walking away. David turned to Emma. "Help Graham cordon off the area" he said. "I thought you wanted me to stay with you" Emma said. David shook his head. "Something's not right. Regina's hiding something. I'm going to talk to Archie" David said. Emma nodded and walked away to where Graham was. David made a mental note to keep an eye on them and walked over to Archie.
Archie knew about the mines and he might know what was down there. Henry saw his mother wasn't around and got out of the car. He snuck around the car and saw David and Archie talking. "Hey, Archie, David, over here" Henry called softly so his mother wouldn't hear. Henry walked behind the sheriff's car. David and Archie followed. "Something's down there. Archie you have all the maps of the mines you must know what's down there" Henry said. "As I just told Mr. Nolan over here I have no idea if there is anything down there" Archie said. "There's gotta be something down there. There's just gotta be. We can't let her do this. What if there's something down there" Henry asked. "Those tunnels have to lead to something" David said. "Exactly we just have to figure out what they lead to. We need to change my mom's mind. She's hiding something" Henry said. "We're not going to be able to change her mind" David said.
"Yes, we will. What was different about today? Something made this happen" Henry said. David looked over at Emma. He knew what made this happen. Regina walked up to them. "Henry, I told you to wait in the car" she said and Henry walked to the car. "Deputy, do your job" Regina said to David. David walked away. Regina turned to Archie. "Dr. Hopper, a word, please" she said. David hid behind the car so that he could listen to the conversation. "OK. We're done with this" Regina said. "Excuse me" Archie asked. "My son. We need a new treatment plan. Everything I do he thinks is part of some horrible plot. I can't cover up a safety hazard without him thinking I'm hiding something. How am I hiding something terrible in an old mine? How is any of this logical to him" Regina asked. "He's got an amazing imagination" Archie said. "Yes, that you let run rampant" Regina said. "Well, I think it would be wrong to rip away the world he's constructed. I'd rather use it to try and get" Archie started to say but Regina interrupted him.
"Sometimes I think you've forgotten you work for me. You're an employee and I can fire you" Regina said. Archie just stared at her. David stayed behind the car listening. Regina really didn't want Henry finding out what was down in the mines. "This is my town. You will lose your office, lose your house. I can cut you down to size until you're a tiny shrunken little creature and this will be the only roof over your damn head" Regina said holding up Archie's umbrella. They just stared at each other. David wasn't going to let Regina hurt Archie. He was going to help him. "What would you have me do" Archie asked. "You take that delusion out of my son's head and you crush it" Regina said handing Archie his umbrella. David had heard enough. He stood up. "Your not going to do anything to him. He is under my protection" David said stepping in front of Archie. Regina rolled her eyes. "Always trying to be the hero" she said. Archie looked at David.
"Thank you. I'm going to go" he said. David nodded his head and Archie left. David turned to Regina. "I'm tired of you and James stepping on people and destroying their lives. That stops tonight" he said. Regina walked over to David and laughed. "What are you going to do? Me and James are too powerful" she said. David smiled at her. "I think I'll be OK after all I do have an advantage. Emma's the savior and she's going to break your curse and then we'll see how powerful you guys are" David said. Regina looked over at Emma who was with Graham and glared. "What's down there" David asked. Regina turned back to David. "Goodnight David" Regina said starting to walk away. She stopped and turned back around. "Stay away from my son" she said. "Or what" David challenged. "Or I will make your beloved Snow's life miserable here. I'll make sure she loses her job her house and anything I want" Regina said. The smile faded from David's face. "Stay away from her" David said. Now Regina smiled. "Good so now were in agreement you stay away from my son and I stay away from your wife" Regina said. David just glared at her. "Finish up here" Regina ordered walking to her car and driving away. David stood there upset she just threatened Snow however for once he had the advantage. He had the memory stones which him and Emma would use to their advantage to take down James and Regina.