Disclaimer: I do not own The Picture of Dorian Gray or any of its related characters. All rights of the novel belong to Oscar Wilde and publishers. This is a work of fan fiction, intended only for entertainment, and outside of the original canon. I am not making profit from this story.
AN:
Introducing:
Joseph Morgan (The Originals) as Lord Henry Wotton
Enchanted Forest
Many Years Ago
The sounds of steel hitting steel hitting the other filled the palace gardens as the extended royal family enjoyed the good weather. While the Queen Regina picked apple's from her tree and her step-daughter picked flowers from the garden, grunts of excursion were heard from the pair of young men stuck in a fiercely competitive sword fight as they tried to find the better of their opponent until the older of the pair managed to send his friend's sword flying out of hand as he poised the end of his sharp sword at the base of his neck to see his victory through.
"I yield" Elijah surrendered in defeat holding his hands up to his friend, tired pants leaving his lips as he looked up to the victor of the spar.
"Victorious once again Elijah " Henry Wotton jeers at his friend with a bright grin on his face as he takes the tip of the sword away from his neck and allow Elijah to pick up his sword from the ground "Just admit it, I'm better than you old friend" he continues hearing a girlish giggle come from the Princess "See, even your lovely fiancee thinks the same".
"Only because she has seen me defeat you on numerous occasions before Harry" he boasted to his friend as King Leopold walked through the gardens with a man that looked like he had just stepped out of Agrabah. Pausing the dueling for the time being the Queen's younger brother and the you Lord stood to attention as the an walked past.
"This is my beautiful daughter, Snow".
"How do you do?" Snow greets the genie with a small bow as the man does the same as King Leopold finds his brother-in-law, to find him with the ever youthful Henry Wotton next to him.
"This is Elijah" he introduces the taller darker haired man with clean shaven face "My dear brother-in-law and soon son-in-law in the next couple of months" he tells the genie with excitement lacing his voice looking forward to the joyous day he would watch his daughter marry the honorable Elijah, knowing she would be left in good hands.
"Hello" Elijah greets the man with a polite bow of his head and smile as the King move's on to the Lord next to him.
"And his friend, the Lord Henry Wotton" the King continued his introductions turning to the the young lord gave the genie a silent nod of his head in greeting.
"And Regina – my wife. The Queen" he introduces his wife to the genie, hearing her name the Queen turns away from her tree an sees the stranger giving him a warm smile.
"Hello".
After her altercation with the Mayor that morning over the safety of Henry's Castle playground that had been damaged in the recent storm that had passed through the town. The Sheriff of Storybrooke met Mary Margaret in Granny's for breakfast to vent about what the older had said about her having to be more responsible in her role.
"Don't let my feelings cloud my judgment? That's all Regina ever does" Emma tells her roommate opposite her as she ate her cereal.
"Well, she's just upset because you and Henry have a special place and she… She doesn't" the pixie haired teacher tried to reason with her.
"How'd she find out about the castle in the first place?".
"She knows everything about this town. She's the Mayor. Maybe even Elijah told her.
"No, he wouldn't" the blonde quickly tells her "He was the one arranging our meetings before he stopped after we went behind his back to find David".
"Have you even spoken to him at all?" her friends asks her knowing it had been a while she had seen the man in the suit.
"You mean ever since he basically admitted too setting up Mr. Gold with the town charter, then I haven't".
She wanted to go find him when he was trying to find Ava and Nicola's father before she would have to take them to Boston to see if he might have known something, but that opportunity went when she found out Regina had already called Social Services. Anyway, she didn't feel she could completely trust him knowing how far he had gone to make sure he lost.
Hearing a phone vibrate made the blonde come out of thoughts of the Principle in the suit.
"Everything okay?" she asks her friend who was looking down at her phone.
"Yeah, I just need to go. Look, if it makes you feel any better, I think you're right. I see the effect she has on Henry".
"I wish everyone else did, too" she grumbles to her roommate as she puts her coat on.
"Elijah does!" the pixie hared teacher quickly adds before leaving giving her friend a squeeze on her shoulder as she left the diner to meet up with David as Sidney then takes the teachers vacated seat with a more than half empty glass of whiskey in his hand.
"I can grant your wish" he tells the Sheriff having overheard their conversation.
Oh, Sidney" she starts having smelt the drink on his breath the Sheriff had to sit back in her chair "You want a side of bacon with that whiskey?".
"You want to show this town who the Mayor and her brother really are? I can help".
"It's gonna to be kind of hard to do from inside her pocket" she voices to the man in front of her.
"The Mayor and I are done" he tells her.
"Sure you are" she scoffs not believing the reporter.
"She fired me from the paper at Elijah's request for the work I did for the election. They both made me look like a fool. So I started working on an exposé on the Mayor's office, and I found something she didn't want found, that baby brother forgot to hide for her".
"Sidney, you're drunk" Emma tell him "Go home – sleep it off. Be grateful that you don't have to answer to her anymore" she adds as she starts to pick up her things from the table only for the man to present her with a business card.
"Call me. Storybrooke deserves to know the truth about them".
Taking the business card to humor him, the Sheriff silently leaves the table to continue with her day.
Elijah Mills was never one for sentiment. Sentiment meant holding onto feelings and memories he would no sooner want to forget and yet as he stood with his sister as contractor's tore down Henry's wooden castle from the damage it sustain in a resent storm that hit the coastal town. He couldn't help but feel for his young nephew as he watched his special place being destroyed in front of him.
He had only discovered the place himself as a place Henry would take himself off to on his bike. It was the first place he checked when he had unknowing run off to Boston to find Emma Swan. Maybe he wanted to say goodbye to the place he had often found his nephew playing on from time to time, that same place that allowed him to meet and get to know the woman that given birth to him.
He wasn't sure what it was, but he wasn't taking the pleasure his sister was secretly taking destroying the place she knew her son and the woman that gave him up would meet up on.
The younger sibling stood by his sister in silence watching the playground being crushed in the metal construction 'claw' it easily crumbling between the heavy machinery and bumped in the bed of a nearby truck bed while the Mayor spoke to some of the construction workers as he saw the sheriff's car pull up behind his nephew.
"Hey, what happened?" Emma asks her son having been told what was happening to their special place "I came as soon as I could".
"The castle!" the ten-year old exclaimed "They're tearing the whole thing down!he exclaims running towards, stopping short of the whole the construction workers had made in the soft ground only to see his book and its metal case missing from where he buried it "My book! It-it's gone".
Leaving her son, the towns sheriff heads to the two responsible for the destruction of the wooden castle.
"Congratulations, Madam Mayor. Principle Mills" she addressed them both as she approached the siblings "You destroyed the thing he loves".
"A dangerous thing that can only hurt Henry and others" the Mayor reminds her "You see me as a villain, Miss Swan, but that's just your perception and you're wrong. Learn your place in this town or, soon enough, you won't be in it" the brunette woman tell her before leaving to find her son, leaving her brother with the blonde sheriff.
"Sheriff" he curtly greets the blonde he hadn't seen or spoken to at length since the election "It may seen cruel, but its the right thing to do" he tried to reason to her common sense.
"Yeah" she scoff at the man "Like setting Gold up to setting up that fire three weeks ago" she silently accused him "Was that the right thing to do?".
"Three weeks ago, you were the one complaining that you didn't get the job automatically, doing nothing to get it back while you stripped your apartment's appliances for parts with a dinner knife" he quickly points out to her making her go quiet "I simply gave you a nudge in the right direction and the means to fight for it".
"You got what you wanted Sheriff Swan as I did. Now go do your job and take some responsibility like a grown up" he tells the woman before leaving her side to find his nephew and sister leaving the blonde woman to pull out the business card Sidney had just given her and dials the number on it.
"Sidney? Hi. I'm in. I want everyone to know who they really is".
With a meeting point arranged Emma drove out to the middle of of the woods, the blonde sheriff came to stop in the sheriff's car at the end of a tunnel. Stepping out the sheriff looks around to find the man she was supposed to meet covertly for the man to step into view a second later in a grey trench coat and hat.
"Alright. I'm listening" she tells the ex-reporter "So, what do you know about them?".
"Fifty thousand dollars" he simply states to her.
"I'm sorry?" she asks in confusion.
"Fifty grand out of the budget is missing. And Regina is responsible".
"That's it?" she gawped at the man "That's what you have on her? What about Elijah?".
"He's the foot solider in all this" he quickly supplies her "He's been helping her do it and gets a percentage of the cash for himself. How else is he able to afford those suits of his on a principle's salary?".
She'd never thought of it if she was being honest. But when he casually mentioned his suit actually cost him nine thousand dollars, that didn't raise a red flag until now.
"The money is just the tip of the iceberg" Sidney goes on see that he had caught her attention "We figure out what they've been doing and it all falls apart – it all crumbles. And we'll finally learn her secrets. You see what she is. I see it. All we need is a crack in the mirror to show everyone. I'm telling you – this is it".
"Alright. What's your plan?" she asks him, convinced that he had something viable to work on.
"Tap their phones. GPS their cars. Hack into their emails. Dip into your bail bonds-person bag of tricks.
"No" she sternly tells the man, putting down the boundaries for their investigation "I'm Sheriff now. I have to be responsible. I want to do this by the book".
"She's going to know that you're on to her – sooner than later. Are you prepared for her wrath?".
"Oh yeah" she states not afraid of facing her wrath.
"And Elijah?" he questions her "Once he find's out, her wrath is nothing compared to his. You go for her, it's fair game as far as he's concerned".
"I'm not afraid of him" she tells the man in front of her.
"Good. Because I was" he honestly tells her.
Turning the leave, both parties of the investigation went to go their separate ways only for the blonde Sheriff to turn back to question the reporter further.
"If you thought she was so terrifying, how did you allow yourself to end up in her pocket?" the blonde asks him.
"I used to think she was a different person".
"Happy Birthday, Your Majesty!" Elijah yelled from the floor as he started the round of applause that the courtiers joined in with was they all gathered around the thrones.
The evening's celebration of King's Leopold's birthday was in full swing later that day as the monarchs nearest and dearest had gathered in the castle to celebrate the anniversary of his birth.
In among the courtiers that had been invited, Elijah stood by Snow's side for the whole evening whispering jokes every so often into her ear that she giggled to as his friend Henry Wotton kept the chalice in his hand full for the entire evening knowing it would be the only way for the young man to keep up the appearance of being 'happily in love' with the young princess.
With their wedding day quickly approaching, the groom was still desperately trying to find a way out of the arrangement his mother made for him when his sister became Queen.
He wasn't ready to be a husband. Let alone a Father one day. But all his mother was concerned with, was to keep their blood and family in the royal line for future generations. To keep them at the top of society. And he was the key to it.
Thankfully he had to wait until she was old enough to marry and when the King finally decided when he was ready to hand over his only daughter to her loving husband.
This gave him enough time to enjoy his freedom for as long as it would last, which took him a path to meet Henry Wotton. His savior and brother. He showed him a whole different side to life that had existed to the one he had grown in. One where he could forget his guilt and enjoy life and all its pleasures to its full.
The only downside, was that his body was struggling to keep up to what he wanted to do. But one simple deal with the Dark One seemed to do the trick as he was able to have his full and suffer none of the consequence, remaining young and beautiful to those around him as his portrait rotted away a forgotten corner.
While his sister the Queen sat at her table set up for the royal family by herself, the King was stood in front of a pair of thrones on the opposite side of the room as he gathered the party to make a speech on his special day.
"No gifts are required to mark this special day" the King tells his people from the small platform that held the matching pair of thrones "For they all pale in comparison to the greatest gift of all – my daughter, Snow".
"Father!" the Princess breathed out in flattery as the crowd applauded. Taking hold of Elijah's awaiting hand her fiance helped her step up onto the wooden platform, joining the King at the front of the room as everyone continued to clap including Henry Wotton from behind his good friend.
"Oh Father, you make me blush" she fretted as she looked down to see her husband-to-be smiling back up at her as the King took her hand into his.
"Every day I look upon your face, and I am reminded of your dearly departed mother. Who, like you, truly was the fairest in all the land" he tells her as a loving smile grows on his face "And one day, in the near future, you will have a daughter that will fill your heart with the same joy that has filled my heart watching you grow into the woman you are today".
At this the Princess simply embraced her father warmly as the smile on Elijah's face fell at the mention of fathering children with her one day. Just the mere thought the young man lifted the cup in hand to his lips as he gulped down the wine that was held within it, feeling the numbness that accompanied the alcohol hitting his stomach, not noticing his sister walk out of the throne room after the Kings cruel words.
"Come brother" Henry's voice took him out of dark thoughts as he felt his friend playfully wrap his arm around his neck to guide him out of the room and away from his future as he spoke into his ear "Let's enjoy your freedom while we still can. The lovely Miss Vane is headlining a play in the next town. I know you've been missing her" he teased the younger man under his arm.
At the mention of Sybil an involuntary smile grew on Elijah's face as he allowed his friend to guide him out of the throne room to find the woman that had been filling his mind of late.
"Our next adventure awaits us brother" Elijah tells the man next to him as he feels the drink in his system relax his body as he counted down the minutes until he saw his love on the stage once again.
With boxes of town hall records surrounding them, Emma and disgraced reporter Sidney Glass stood in the blonde Sheriff's shared apartment going through each file they had on hand trying to find the fifty thousand dollars that was missing from the budget.
"When did that transfer go through?" Emma asked the man stood at the small dining table with her as they went through a box each "Does three weeks ago sound right?".
"Yeah. Why?".
"Because those records are missing" she tells the reported as the front door open and Mary Margaret suddenly rushes into the apartment to find her roommate.
"Emma, there's something I'd like to talk to you… " she tells her only to see Sidney with her "Hi, Sidney" she meekly greets the man closing the door behind her.
"Hey, we're just doing some work. I think we may have found something on Regina" she tells her roommate as the reported looks at her having not heard the only other person they were looking into being mentioned.
"Interesting work" the dark-haired woman comments "Well, I approve" she adds walking to the kitchen to leave the pair to work.
"You want to go by the book? Let's get a warrant".
"And what judge are we going to find that she doesn't own? We're screwed".
"Or, there's my way" he reminds her.
"I want to do this right, Sidney".
"Well, what's right is exposing her and her brother" he argues as Mary Margaret overhears the conversation "Sometimes, doing a bad thing for a good reason is okay, right?".
"Yeah. I mean, maybe you're doing something wrong, but if it's what's meant to be – if it's what's right – does that really make you a bad person?" Mary Margaret rationalized to the blonde from behind the kitchen counter.
"Exactly" Sidney chuckles out seeing that he had swayed the other woman in the apartment.
"You two are doing a whole lot of rationalizing".
"But look what she's done to you, to me, to your son. I mean, she's not going to stop, so whatever you do, you've got to do something".
"Okay. Let's start by talking to her".
"And just what are you and the disgraced ex-reporter accusing me of?" the Mayor of Storybrooke asked the towns Sheriff and ex-reporter of the Daily Mirror stood in front of her desk in her office.
"Fifty thousand dollars was transferred out of a city account – by you and Elijah" the Sheriff accuses the Mayor.
"Well, as Mayor, I'm involved in many transactions" she calmly starts "As for Elijah, he's the Principle of my son's school, he's involved in transactions when I plan out his budget for the next school term that pays for it's supplies and its staff to keep it open. Check the public records if you have questions".
"That's the thing – they're missing from three weeks ago. You have any idea what happened to them?".
"Well, if they're missing, I probably checked them out – as my job often requires me to do. And if they were checked out three weeks ago, well, that means they burned. In a fire. In a fire, that, if I recall, got you elected Sheriff. I have nothing to hide" she tells them.
Stepping towards the desk the Sheriff of Storybrooke leaned on the edge of the Mayor's desk meeting and holding the older woman's gaze as stared down at the Mayor behind her desk.
"Okay" she says breaking the silence in the room "There's nothing for us to do. Let's go, Sidney" she tells the ex-reporter before turning to leave the Mayor's office.
"Emma.." he trails off unsure why she wanted to leave.
"No, she's right. We have nothing" she says before he turns to follow the blonde savior out of the office.
"That was your plan? I thought you were going to do something?" Sidney asks the blonde Sheriff as they walked away from the town hall.
"I did. I planted a bug" she tells the man "You win, Sidney. Let's do whatever it takes".
"So what now?" he asks the Sheriff.
"Now, lets go talk to to him".
He didn't mind getting his hands dirty when the task requires it, but he he drew a line when he got dark car oil on his white dress shirt early in the morning. After a small delay the Principle of the local grade school made his way into his place of work during morning lesson's as smears of oil appeared on the front of his pristine white shirt underneath his suit jacket.
Rounding the corner he entered the office area of the school to find the school's secretary behind her desk that sat outside his office door.
"Principle Mill's" his secretary greeted the man as she jumped onto her feet in panic.
"Good Morning Miss Honey, please excuse my tardiness, I'll catch up on my work before the lunch bell" he tells the woman as he picks up the pile of notes that had piled on the woman's desk that was for his attention as he made his way to his office to change his shirt.
"No its-" she tried to tell the man before he opened his office door, but she was too late as the Principle with greeted with the sight of Sheriff Swan and Sidney Glass in his office, waiting for him to arrive.
"Sheriff Swan. Mr. Glass" he greets the odd pair in front of him with surprise lacing his voice "This is an unexpected surprise" he says out load.
"We need to talk to you" the Sheriff spoke for the pair.
Pushing the jarring feeling he felt seeing them "Certainly" he agreed with a friendly smile as Miss Honey close the door behind the Principle to give him and his visitors some privacy "Please take a seat" he invites the pair to sit on the chairs in front of his desk as he makes his way to the other side, depositing his coat on the coat hanger and leather briefcase on his desk as Emma notices his pristine white shirt had been blotted with dark stains that seemed out of character for the man to be willingly walking around in".
"Oh, Please excuse the state of my shirt. I had some car trouble this morning. A flat tire. I usually keep some clean shirts here". He knew the risks of working around children, that some of his suits wouldn't return home in their immaculate condition they arrived in. Paint, glue or glitter were the weapons of choice for these children and on the occasion he happened to find a child who was sick..well there was nothing that surprised him in his job.
"You know how to fix a car?" Sidney asked the Principle not believe that he would willingly get his hands dirty just to save some money at the mechanics.
"Mend the house, mend the man" he saying rolled off his tongue to the Sheriff and ex-reporter "Or in this case Mend the car" he tried to jest with the pair in his office "It's a treatment recommended to me a while ago by Dr. Hopper" he tells them taking a seat in his office chair.
"What for?" the Sheriff inquired with him.
"Trouble sleeping Sheriff. When my sister first adopted Henry, I had some trouble accommodating to the new change. After a while I found I was struggling concentrate on tasks, so Dr. Hopper instructed me to fix things that had broken or been damaged in the house. Eventually I learned how to take my entire engine apart and put it back together and I've been doing it ever since".
"Now enough of my sleep patterns" he changed the subject "May I inquire on your visit here this morning" he asks the pair.
"Fifty thousand dollars is missing from the city's accounts" the Sheriff started "The files are missing and the only two people who have easy access to those documents are the Mayor- and you".
"As Principle of the elementary school, I am privy to some city hall documentation to do with the town budget and I even chair a few groups that meet with the Mayor to discuss it. It's all above board and legal. I even went to the trouble and personal expense into consulting with a lawyer and Sheriff Graham before I even touched any document in my sister's possession".
"But you had access to them. The Mayor told us she checked them out".
"How long ago was this Sheriff?".
"Three weeks ago" she answered as he corner of his lips quirked up in a half smile seeing what she was talking about. She wanted to talk about his involvement in her election victory. He'd been waiting a while for this conversation to happen for a while.
"Mr. Glass would you excuse us for a minute" he asks the reporter "Miss Honey will be able to give you some reading material from our Kindergarten class while you wait, if you're up for the challenge of course" he tried his best to keep the smirk off his face but it was futile as it tugged on his lips
Looking towards the Sheriff for assistance to keep him in the room to hear what Elijah had to say, it never came as she remained silent keeping her gave firmly on the man across the desk from her before he gave up and let himself out of the office.
"What are you doing Miss Swan?" he deadpanned the blonde on the other-side of the desk once his office door closed firmly behind the reporter "Working with that pathetic excuse for a man" he grumbled to himself "Do I need to remind you he was the one to write the article in the paper about your troubled past. Albeit at my sister's order but it was his words my nephew read about the circumstance around his birth. I was doing this whole town a favor when I demanded his position at the paper, without him, my sister has no voice to poison this town's ears, including Henry's".
"I don't need you to be my knight in shining armor" Emma tell the man behind the desk.
"No, you don't, but you trust too easily. Especially when our emotions get int he way of reasonable thoughts. So whatever it is you're trying to find, it does not exist" he insists.
"I think you do know Elijah" she tells the man, standing to lean "You helped her with the accounts and made a mistake. You knew you would get caught, so you made sure they were in the Town Hall during the fire to cover your tracks".
"I had no idea the lengths to ensure your victory, especially if it endangered my own sister. If I did Mr. Gold would be crawling around in shop and I'd be your first arrest. I have nothing to hide".
Stepping towards the desk the Sheriff of Storybrooke leaned on the edge of the desk meeting and holding the man's gaze as stared down at the Principle.
"Okay" she says breaking the silence in the room "There's nothing for us more here" she tells the Principle as she turns to leave the office having planted the small bug on the underside of his desk.
With both bugs planted in their respective offices, Sidney sat in bullpen of the station with headphones over his ears listening to Regina chastising her secretary over the air conditioning in her office and hardly anything from Elijah expect from the small conversations he held with Miss Honey about the school
"Miss Ginger, I really don't have time for more complaints about working conditions. The air temperature is not one of my areas" Regina's voice says on the tape before
"Miss Honey. Would you be able to send this to the forth grade classroom. Ask Miss Blanchard to get these back to me at her earliest convenience".
"Certainly Mr Mill's" the sweet secretary chirps at her boss.
"Scintillating" Emma commented to the ex-reporter as she joined him "Find anything good yet?".
"Yeah, better than good. She made this call a little over an hour ago" he informs her playing the cassette back to the Sheriff.
"We'll meet you tonight at Access Road Twenty Three with the rest of your payment" Regina tells the person on the other end "Yes, it will all be in cash. And I don't need to remind you that no one can know about this. Yes, Elijah and I know it has to be tonight" she finishes as Sidney cuts the tape.
"Who's on the other end?" Emma asks him.
"You bugged the office – not the phone" he reminded her.
"Well, we're just going to have to find out.
"Yeah" he replies.
"A payoff in the woods? That's promising".
"A payoff using stolen city funds" he corrects her.
"Let's go find out who they're meeting".
This is what he needed, Elijah thought to himself as he watched the talented Miss Sybil Vane on the candle lit stage in the pokey theater he had stumbled upon when Henry suggested he should 'know everything about life' as he ventured out of the safety of the walls of the palace and his father's estate to wander into a playhouse where his love was playing heroine after heroine of different plays. On night she was Imogen, another she was Rosalind.
But the night he first saw her she was Juliet, a love stricken teenage girl that had faked her own death avoid an arranged marriage and free herself to leave with her true love. Only for her death to seem all to real for the man she truly loved.
Sibyl Vane was the finest actress he had ever seen. When he told his friend about his new found love he simply asked him; "When is she Sibyl Vane?"
"Never" he answered his friend.
"I congratulate you" Henry replied suppressing the smirk on his face.
"How horrid you are! She is all the great heroines of the world in one. She is more than an individual. You laugh, but I tell you she has genius. I love her, and I must make her love me. You, who know all the secrets of life, tell me how to charm Sibyl Vane to love me! I want to make Romeo jealous. I want the dead lovers of the world to hear our laughter, and grow sad. I want to breath of our passion to stir their dust into consciousness, to wake their ashes into pain. My God Harry, how I worship her!".
Lord Henry could only watch his young friend as he paced the floor of his home as he spoke with a subtle sense of pleasure. How different he was now from the shy, frightened boy he had been introduced to while his sister was being fitted into her wedding dress in the other room. Out from behind his mother's skirts he had flourished like a flower and borne blossoms of scarlet flame.
On the evening he was supposed to visit the playhouse once again to watch her perform with his friend, Henry Wotton was instead sent a note that evening to tell him Elijah was engaged to be married to Sibyl Vane.
Driving in Emma's squad car, the Sheriff herself and Sidney followed Regina's brown Mercedes along the empty country roads that surrounded the Storybrooke forest seeing the back of Elijah's strong broad shoulders in her passenger seat with the Mayor driving.
Keeping as close as they could they watched Regina turn to the right, Emma pushes down on her brake to slow down to make the turn herself only for the car not to respond to her request.
"Emma?".
"It won't stop!" she yells desperation as she continues to try and brake with no success until they come to a crashing stop into a sign along the side of the road.
"You okay?" the blonde Sheriff asks the passenger.
"Yeah, you?".
"Yeah" she answers. Getting out of the car the Sheriff rounds the front of the ca to survey the damage as Sidney checks under it, to see what caused the car not to stop.
"We're going to miss that hand-off" Emma voices to the ex-reporter form the front of the car.
"Emma" he called out to the woman.
"What?" she replies walking around to find him knelt down by the wheel.
"You know those bugs you planted? I think Regina and Elijah found them. Someone's been tampering with the brakes. They're on to us".
"Elijah" she realizes out-load "You heard him today! He knows how to fix a car engine".
"So he know's how to break one" Sidney completes her thought pattern.
"I'm gonna kill him" she growls out jumping to her feet to continue their journey into the woods for the hand-off on foot making Sidney chase after her.
"Wait!" he called after the determined woman.
"The bitch tried to have me killed. Got her brother to cut my brakes. I'm finding them".
"Let's be cautious" he warned her "We need to think clearly"
"To hell with caution. I'm going to find out what they were doing and why they're out here.
"They were was meeting me" A voice suddenly said to them nearby making them look around to see Mr. Gold stood there with a briefcase in his hand and his cane in the other.
"What are you doing out here with them?" Emma demanded to know out of the woman.
"Just a little business transaction" he answers the pair.
"What's in the briefcase?" Sidney asks the older man.
"Everything comes at a price. Land is no different".
"That's why you're meeting her out here? Regina and Elijah bought your land?".
"The very ground you're standing on" he confirms making his way towards the pair.
"What do they want it for?" Emma pressed further.
"You know, in business, I find it's best not to ask too many questions. Hurts the bottom line. The question is, Emma – why are you standing out here in the middle of the night with Mr. Glass?".
Sidney: You don't know what Regina did to me" Sidney spoke up "You don't know what she did to her son. We can't just sit idly by".
"Of course you can" the pawn shop owner tells him "Be careful – emotional entanglements can lead us down very dangerous paths".
Changing their strategy, Emma takes herself and Sidney to the town hall in her yellow bug now that they knew the had-off included Mr. Gold. They would have to go to the root to find out more. Her office. If there was anything to find out it would be on her computer.
"What are we doing here?" the ex-reporter asks the Sheriff as she heads towards the building making her stop to explain what they were doing.
"We know she bought land from Gold – we don't know why" she tells him "I'm willing to bet it's for personal reasons, but we have to know for sure. We need documents that officially link her and her brother to that land."
"So, you want to break into her office?" he question her as they make their way towards the building "It's locked. And she's got a state of the art security system and alarm".
"If we don't show this town who Regina and Elijah really are, who will?"
"Do you think you can crack her code?"
"Yep" she answers with a smirk.
Throwing a rock through the window of the front door, the alarm was set off as she reached in to unlock the door
"Emma!" the man exclaims in surprise.
"Who does the alarm system alert?"she asks the man as they carefully walk over the broken glass to let themselves into the building "The police. I'm the police. Two minutes for her to get a call from the alarm company, one minute maybe two for her and Elijah to get their coat and keys, three minutes to drive here. We got maybe six minutes".
Entering her office as the alarm continued, Sidney is the first to her desk to find the Mayor's laptop sat on her desk for Emma to take and use a thumb drive on her keys to hack into the computer.
Using the search terms 'land, sold, Gold, Elijah, property' she waits for the thumb-drive to do its work to override the security on the computer to find the documents they needed to find.
"I just uncovered every file that references the tract of land she bought from Gold. Nice".
Printing off the documents, she starts search through the numerous drawers looking for Henry's storybook only to find a set of old looking keys attached on a large ring with literal skull shapes in the head of each key.
"What the hell do these open?" the Sheriff mumbled to herself before returning them to the draw.
"I don't know" Sidney answers from the desk only to see what she was doing "What are you doing?".
"Looking for Henry's book" she tells him as she walks to the other end of the room to continue her search. If she didn't get anywhere here, she would have to try Elijah's office at the school.
"We didn't come here for Henry" he reminds her holding the freshly printed documents in his hands "We came here for the files and-".
"No, you didn't come here for Henry" she corrects him "Me? That's the only reason I'm here" she goes on as the lights come on above them and Regina rushes in with Elijah following in behind as she disarms the alarm on the wall as Emma shines her flashlight in the siblings face's making the pair exclaim
"What are you doing?" the Mayor questions the pair in her office as Sidney quickly hides the documents in his coat.
"Some kids broke in" Emma tells them "I heard the alarm, so I'm checking it out cause…I'm Sheriff".
"Well, that was an awfully quick response time" Regina voices making Elijah narrow his gaze towards the ex-reporters presence. Still int he same suit he wore that day, albeit the fresh shirt he had changed into once Emma had left his office.
The tall man stood didn't think much once his sister received the call of the alarm being set off in her office, he grabbed his coat of the rack without his suit jacket and tie as he stood in front of Emma Swan and Sidney Glass with the top buttons of his shirt open.
"You told me to do my job, and I'm doing it".
"And yet you brought Mr. Glass with you" Elijah asks, blonde Sheriff "Is he your new Deputy?".
Giving the man a look that told him she was wasn't' impressed with his 'joke' she answered him "Oh, well, he saw it while he was on a walk. So he's a witness".
"Hm" he hummed with a tight lipped smirk "And what did you see, Mr. Glass?".
"Some kids with a…" he started.
"Rock" the sheriff finished for him.
"A rock" he repeated.
"Maybe I should ask why you're here Principle Mills?" she questions him. She knew he would come along, no doubt about it.
"Although I'm aware that my sister can handle herself, Sheriff. I wasn't going to leave it up to chance it wasn't more than just kids with a rock" he answers the woman.
"Did they take anything?" Regina changes the subject away from her brother's presence.
"I don't know. I'd have to do a thorough sweep to, uh, find out".
" It appears to me it's all just a prank" the Mayor brushes the Sheriff off.
Emma: You sure you don't want me to take the place apart?".
"Sheriff, your services are not wanted nor needed" Elijah tells her "But, Thank you for your..speedy response neither the less".
"Okay. Well, you know where to find me" she tells the pair of siblings before she and Sidney leave the office with the plans as Elijah and Regina find the laptop in the place where it usually stays overnight, seemingly untouched.
Taking the documents to Sidney's old office, the pair go through each piece of paper they printed off to find numerous blueprints and bank-statements that had the siblings crimes written all over them.
"Blueprints, bank statements…" Sidney listed off.
"What are they building out there? A mansion?" she says holding the blueprints together that to make the image whole.
"Well, whatever it is, it doesn't matter, because these escrow statements have their name all over it" he tells her pointing out Regina and Elijah Mil's name printed in black ink "You were right – personal use. She's done – we got them both" he goes on as Emma slumps into the chair she was sitting in "What's wrong? Didn't you hear me?".
"We stooped to her level" Emma voiced to the reporter "That's exactly what I promised Henry I wouldn't do".
"Emma, we got them! Both of them".
"It's fruits of the poisonous tree – illegally obtained evidence" she reminds the man "It'll get thrown out in court in a heartbeat".
"No. We don't need them to go to jail".
"Then, what are we doing here?" she asks him sitting forward in her chair.
"What you wished for – get everyone to see who she is. Get everyone to see who he really is. What they did to Henry, she does to everyone and Elijah simply follows behind with his 'Family Above All' crap. She destroys what people love, that includes what her brother, to keep him line. Let me show you something"
Pulling out a box from under his desk the ex-reported flips the lid open to show the Sheriff the photo's he had taken of her and Henry since she arrived in town.
Taking a few out the Sheriff saw what images of her Henry at his castle, walking around town even pictures of her meeting up with Elijah in his suit and tie to agree on when he would bring Henry to meet her again. Even pictures of them speaking when she was newly deputized, putting up the police tape around the collapsed mine entrance. Even picture of him outside her's and Mary Margaret's apartment building with a box in his arms, helping her move in.
"She made me follow you" he admits to her "She made me tell her everything. She knew about your secret place weeks ago. That Elijah was helping you see Henry" he tells her just as she find the photo of the man in the suit picking his nephew up time and time again after they had spent some time together at his castle "She just waited to destroy it until it would hurt you and Henry the most. It's all my fault. If you don't do this – I have to".
"Okay" She agrees to go ahead with the plan.
Sat in the middle of the council members in the Storybrooke Town Hall, the youngest Mill's sibling and Elementary School Principle prepared himself for another 'lively' meeting that was chaired by his older sister the Mayor sat opposite at her own desk, front and center with a gavel while an audience of residents behind them watched on.
The banging of the gavel always made the principle wince to himself as its loud noise range through his ears each time his sister hit it against its' block.
"This session of the Storybrooke city council will come to order" the Mayor announces from her desk making the crowd go quiet "We will begin by reading the minutes from our last meeting by Council Chairman Elijah Mill's".
He didn't get a chance to speak as he heard movement behind him as a voice made itself known.
"Uh, excuse me, um, Madam Mayor" Sidney interrupts the meeting holding a binder in his hands "I have something I'd like to bring to the council's attention" he goes on making the council members look behinds them all except Elijah who remains looking forward.
"This is not an open forum, Sidney" Regina reminds the ex-reporter "And no one on this council's interested in hearing the boozy complaints of a disgraced reporter. Now sit down".
Taking her chance Emma stand up in the audience to step into the gangway to take the binder out of Sidney's hands.
"He's not the only one who has something to say" Elijah hears Emma Swan's voice come behind him.
"Good heavens, give me strength" Elijah mumbles to himself in disdain, pinching his the top of his nose in agitation.
"Miss Swan, this meeting is to discuss issues facing Storybrooke" the Mayor tells her.
"Like the Mayor and School Principle stealing thousands of dollars from the city to build themselves a second home?".
Gasps come from the audience. Regina bangs the gavel to silence them as Elijah turns in his chair to look at his accusers.
"Miss Swan, you will sit down immediately or so help me-".
"What? You'll punish me? You'll bully me like everyone else in this town? No. Not today" she tells the woman before turning to the audience holding up the blueprints she and Sidney took from her computer the previous night "In my hand, I am holding documents proving that this woman and this man, your mayor and your child's principle, stole funds from the city to build themselves a lavish home in the woods and pay for nine-thousand-dollar designer suits".
The mummer and gasps erupt from the audience once again as Elijah stands to his feet to put himself in between the Sheriff and his sister and to also face his accusers head on.
"I beg your pardon, Miss Swan?" Elijah warns the Sheriff from continuing but goes ignored.
"And this 'disgraced reporter'" she goes on as Elijah leaves his place to find his stand next to his sister as their names are dragged through the mud "You want to know why he was really fired? Because he stood up to them. Because he questioned them. We all know what happens to people who question the Mayor and her brother".
Turning back she sees that Elijah had moved to stand beside his sister, as a united front to face the accusations thrown at them by the ex-reporter and the towns Sheriff.
"You both claim that you act in the best interest of all of us, but that isn't the truth, is it? The truth is, you're both thugs that doesn't care about anyone, or anything, but yourself. That is who you really are. And it is time for the people of Storybrooke to know that".
"You are right, Miss Swan. I am building a house" Regina admits to the blonde Sheriff with a smirk on her lips as she stands from her seat to take out the small remote that controlled the overhead projector above them "A playhouse".
Pulling up an image of the proposed new Storybrooke playground for all to see, the youngest Mill's sibling couldn't help but to enjoy the disappointment on the Sheriff's features as he remained silent.
"The accusations are true" the Mayor goes on to the audience "I did take city funds. I wanted to build a playground so my son, Henry, and all the children of Storybrooke, could have a special place to play. Safely".
"Created with recommendations taken from someone who has dedicated his life to the education of this towns young children and who has first hand knowledge on how our children play and the upmost importance of their personal development as healthy individuals. I felt that Principle Mill's deserved to be recognized for all he's done for the community over the years".
"As for the sketch in your hands, it was inspired by a drawing I found in one of my son's books. So, there you have it, Miss Swan. You've exposed us for who we really are. I hope you're satisfied".
Walking out of the Town Hall at the end of the meeting with their investigation into the Mayor and her brother up in flames, the blonde couldn't help but to stop and look back and find the siblings with relaxed smiles on their faces as they talked to the other councilors as they shook hands like nothing had happened.
"Look at them" a voice said behind them, making them snap their heads around to see Mr. Gold stood there "King and Queen of the castle. You know, what you did in there was commendable, Miss Swan. But if you really want to bring them down, you're going to need a strong ally" he offers the blonde once again as they watch Elijah kiss his sister's cheek before leaving in the opposite direction like he was on mission.
"Like yourself? Thanks, but I'm still not interested" she quickly turns him down.
"Oh, one can wish" he muses leaving just as the Mayor approaches the air that had tried to take her and her brother down.
"Miss Swan" she greets the blonde woman "A word? Alone" she adds looking at Sidney. Taking his leave he leaves the pair to speak privately.
"I don't know what you were hoping to accomplish in there" Regina starts "But now, I hope you'll go back to your job. Which is upholding the law – not breaking it. You don't think I know you broke into my office?".
"Don't pretend like you're so innocent" Emma retorts "I know you had Elijah mess with the brakes on my car".
"Your brakes? she scoffs at the blonde accusation "Are you delusional? Why would I kill you when you just saw we had nothing to hide?"
"Nothing I can prove".
"Well, until you have something more substantial than disdain to throw my way, you're going to stay away from my brother and I. And, more importantly, from Henry".
"But that's-" she tries to argue only to be interrupted.
"Not open for discussion" the mayor tells her straight "You've lost the high ground, Sheriff. If I wanted to, there's not a judge in the world that would deny me a restraining order after what you've done. You don't get to see my son unless I say so. And right now? I don't say so".
Sat the Sheriffs office, in one of the uncomfortable chairs Elijah Mills waits for the towns very own Sheriff to come to her office after trying and failing to topple his and his sister's positions in the small town over Henry's castle. So instead of allowing Miss Swan to continue her pursuit of how he made his money he would simply just show her instead other to continue to dig.
Hearing footsteps approaching the office, the principle stood from his chair with his file of documents in his hand as his coat casually hung off the back of his chair as Emma entered the office to find Henry's Uncle already there, waiting for her.
"Elijah-"
"So you do remember your day job Miss Swan" he greets her with a tight lipped smirk played on his lips.
"Look,whatever this is, your sister has already told me Henry's off limits" .
"Good, at least that's something I agree with her for once" he tells her. He was done playing nice with Henry's birth mother after all the troubles he's been through to make sure they had a relationship, but now all the secret meetings stopped as soon as she started sticking her nose into things that didn't concern her.
"Then Ill cut to the chase of my visit then. Shall we?" he says inviting Emma to sit behind her desk. Following his instructions the blonde made herself comfortable in her chair as she watched him place a large file in front of her full of paper work, before settling himself down in a seat on the other side of her desk as she tries to read him only to come up with nothing as he gave nothing away.
"Go on. Ask?" he prompts her.
"Whats in the file?" she asks the question. Was he giving her the files hat proved his and Regina's innocence? The ones that had burnt in the fire, but she was left disappointed when he told her the real answer.
"Going against my accountants advise and wishes, I've taken it upon myself to draw up a portfolio of all my financial records" he tells her "That includes my paychecks, certificates of stock that I own, including receipts of dividends that have been paid out at the end of every financial year. Including the charitable donations I have made to the local community. It also includes the Trust Fund I have been paying every month for the last ten years, that will aid my nephew financially when he attends college when he's eighteen. As well as the tax I pay for services this town provides for the public services, like it's Sheriff Station".
"Elijah" she sighed in defeat "I don't want to see them".
"But that's what you and Sidney accused me of wasn't it? Siphoning a percentage public money whenever I've had to help my sister with the budget for myself to pay for my lifestyle".
"That's not-" she tried to argue only for the man to continue anyway.
"I admit, I'm guilty of indulging in a suit or two because its what I like to wear. Like the leather jackets you wear. It's our armor against the world Miss Swan. I just like mine having a designer label on the inside of my suit jacket".
"Now instead of looking upon your actions as a sign of betrayal. I'm willing to forgive and forget for the sake of your son that this...quest was just ill fated. But do it again, than I won't be afraid to dig a little deeper into your past".
"Is that a threat?" she asks the man.
"No. This is a threat. I tried to warn you, when we first met. I'll go to whatever means necessary to protect my family, even by its own members" he tells her raising to his feet to button his suit jacket up and pick up his coat from the back of his chair "Do try to keep to your day job Sheriff Swan, otherwise I might just have to take it for myself".
Walking out of the office the man left the woman alone with his paperwork. But the more she looked at the file the more she wanted was to find out what was in it. Opening it, she let out a scoff knowing she fell for the oldest trick in the book. Pages and pages full of blank sheets filled the file, stacked ontop of the other, even a few of them were paperclip-ed and stapled together. Of course he wouldn't give her anything, but she believed him anyway.
"Jackass" she hisses out before dumping the whole thing in the trash can.
Lying flat on his front in the bed he had shared with a woman he had met the previous night , his deep slumber as well as her's was disturbed as the door to one of the Inn's he had paid for the night burst open allowing the bright midday light stream into the dark room.
"Elijah wake up!" Henry bellowed from the open door as he let himself into the room to open the curtains of the window to let more sunlight in that made the man moan in "We need to leave" Henry tells his friend.
"Must we?" he grumbled into the pillow as his eye's open wide enough to see a brunette woman he couldn't remember the name of next to him started to stir. She certainly wasn't his Sybil.
"Yes, we must" Henry tell him as he starts to throw pieces of clothes on the half covered couple on the bed "The Queen as asked for your presence back at the palace" he informs his friend "Urgently" he adds "We both know how she can get if she's not listened to. I quite like my head on my neck if its all the same to you".
At this Elijah pushed himself to turn on his back he saw his friend continuing to clean the room up as best he could to make their leave.
"Why? What's happened?" he asks his friend.
Stopping what he was doing he paused as he thought of what to say to his friend.
"King Leopold is Dead" he informs him "There's a rumor the Genie he brought into the palace was the one to do it, with a venomous snake from his homeland" approaching the bed the young Lord kneels on the bed to take Elijah's head between his hands to get him to focus on the task at hand.
"Do you know what that means brother?" Henry asks him. He wasn't really sure what it meant in cloud filled mind as he shook his head "Your engagement to the Princess Snow is over. You're free".
"I'm free?" he breaths out in disbelief.
"Yes!" he exclaims "Come, we'll start celebrating on our way to the palace, maybe even pop into a tavern or two on the way, either way you'll be free to marry the woman your truly love in this world and not the one your mother procured for you".
AN:
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Little bit of Picture of Dorian Gray in this chapter and the introduction of Henry Wotton.
Thank you so much for reading!
- 06bromleys
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