Chapter 19
Past
Odette gave her servant, Honora, a small smile when she was helping her with the laundry outside. Even though Honora was mute, she was very kind to Odette. After Odette's father became The Dark One, he didn't want his children to do any of the housework anymore since he thought there was no reason to, but it didn't stop Odette from helping whenever she could. She was just grateful that her father allowed Honora to work for them since she had been an outcast in the village.
After Odette hung her brother's shirt, she heard, "Odette," she then turned to see her father approaching them, and Odette noticed right away how Honora looked away from her father. "What are you doing?"
Even though her father was now the most feared man in the village, Odette still carried hope that he would be his old self again. She could never hate or be afraid of her own father. After all, Odette carried so many good memories of her loving father doting on her. Even now he still did, but he was much more possessive over her and her twin brother, which made Odette a bit anxious. She tried to see the best in him as much as she could though despite the horrible glances that the town gave her and her family.
"You should be out playing with Bae and your friends," he told her.
Even though it would be nice to have a break, taking care of the household took her mind off things like how something evil slowly took root in her father's heart or how the villagers judged her or were afraid her. The villagers knew if they hurt her, then her father would make them pay heavily. That was another reason why Odette liked to stay home so that she could avoid people. She didn't want it to be her fault if they get hurt or killed by her father especially if they did it by accident.
However, Odette could never tell her father that, so she told a partial truth, "It's okay, Papa. I don't want to leave everything to Honora."
"That's what maids are for. You don't need to become one of them."
Hearing him speak sounded much colder than what she was used to. She knew it was the darkness lingering in his heart that made him speak this way. A part of her still held out hope though. In every dark tunnel, there was a shining beacon of hope at the end of it. That was why Odette swore to stay by his side, because she knew that he could never fight the darkness on his own.
"I'm not becoming a maid, Papa," Odette argued. "I just think that it's nice to help people. The world would be a lot better if people had more compassion after all."
She saw a flicker of emotion in his eyes when he listened to her. "I know, Odette, but I just don't want you to tire yourself or get hurt in any way. That's the reason why I have these powers now—to protect you and Bae."
She shook her head and reassured him, "I'll be fine, Papa. It's nothing I can't handle."
Ever since her father obtained dark magic, he grew obsessed with it, and it scared Odette. She became frightened because she didn't want her father to depend on magic and turn even more sinister. If only her twin brother understood by helping out more and showed her father more good in this world like what Odette tried to do for a while now.
Instead of keeping his promise like he said he would before their father became The Dark One, he always went out to play. The only reason why Odette never said anything to him was because she didn't want her father to hear them arguing over it.
"Can you promise me something, Papa?"
He gave her a soft smile and placed comforting hands on her shoulders, and in that moment, she saw a glimmer of her father again. "Of course, Odette. Anything you want."
"I want you to promise me that you won't let your powers get to you. It scares me to think that you're changing."
"I may have these powers, but that doesn't mean that I've changed completely. I'll always be your father, Odette, and I will always look out for you and Bae."
Even though he told her that he wouldn't change, it didn't take a fool to see that he was not the same kind, gentle father he used to be. He was different, and Odette wanted to make sure that he didn't keep changing. Right now, there was at least cooperation with him. If her father became unreasonable, she wouldn't know what to do, and the thought of it terrified her even more.
"Where is Bae by the way?" Her father asked. "I've looked for him out in the field and in the forest, but I couldn't find him. He said he was going to play ball with his friends."
"He might be in the village instead."
He nodded his head in acknowledgement and told her, "I'll go look there then. I won't be long."
Odette smiled at him, but it soon vanished as soon as his back was turned. She couldn't help but grow anxious. She hoped that her twin brother wasn't reckless and got himself into any sort of trouble for their father to get involved. All Odette was pray silently to herself as she clutched onto her mother's swan necklace around her neck.
Present
Nora went inside Granny's Diner where she met Ruby and Ashley as they greeted her. She looked around and noticed the stranger, August, at one of the tables who gave her a small smile. Nora didn't really know what to make of him. Ruby thought he was very easy on the eyes, to which Nora agreed, but she didn't think he compared to Graham though since she felt an underlying chemistry with him.
When Nora saw Amir coming out of the back room, she froze at the sight of him, and when he noticed her, he smirked. She ignored him the best she could by heading over to Ashley and Ruby and sat on one of the stools. Ruby kept narrowing her eyes at Amir while Ashley avoided him completely, but it completely unfazed him when he approached them.
"Anything I can do for you, Amir?" Ruby asked with a playful smirk, but it didn't extend to her eyes at all.
"I only came to see how you ladies were doing." Amir then looked over at Ashley when she noticed her avoiding him. "How are you doing today, Ashley?"
As soon as Nora saw how uncomfortable her friend was, she stepped in. "We're fine. Now, can you leave us alone, Amir."
Amir looked at Nora then and clearly didn't like her tone, but he seemed more amused than he was annoyed as he put his hand on the counter, separating Nora from Ashley as he leaned in to her, "You should probably be a lot more nicer to me, Nora. You really don't know who you'll come across if you're rude to them."
Before any of them could process what Amir just said, August came up from behind and excused himself by cutting in between Nora and Amir to set money down for Ruby to collect as he grinned at her. "Thanks for the breakfast, Ruby." When August turned around, Nora caught him smiling at her before he turned to Amir with a coy smirk. "You're clearly not a morning person by the way. Here." August took out his wallet to give him a five dollar bill. "Why don't you get yourself some coffee so that you're less cranky?"
The girls got wary when August stood up against Amir and defended them, but August didn't seem to be intimidated by Amir one bit. In fact, August's smirk never wavered while Amir continued glaring at him for interfering.
He then looked at the bill in August's hand and scoffed, "I have more money than I can spend. You keep it. It looks like you need it anyway. What exactly is it that you do to make a living."
"Clearly a lot more than you if you're just standing here and not running your bar."
Even though Ruby smirked, anxiety was written all over on Ashley's face, and Nora didn't blame her at all since she felt the same way. Nora knew full well what Amir was capable of and it scared her to think that August may get hurt in some way for stepping in. She was at least relieved that Amir didn't try anything on him now, but then again, Amir was definitely to not fight in public. He always carried out a sneaky tactic to make his point by making himself known through intimidation.
"Well, I think that as long as you have people to trust, then everything should be fine. That's what it takes to run a business after all as long as both parties agree," Amir reminded him with a coy smirk before his lips thinned into a line as he told him flatly, "Have a good day."
As Amir looked over at Nora, she didn't take her eyes off of him. However, her look didn't exactly amuse him. He knew that she was silently telling him to get out. After everything she had been through with Amir, she didn't care about him since he tricked her to blackmail her.
When Amir walked out the door, Ruby turned to their savior with a playful grin. "Well, looks like our knight in shining armor came in and conquered."
He smiled and told her it was nothing when Ashley remarked how great he was, but Nora was still wary as she voiced her concern. "You shouldn't have stepped in though. Amir's just going to make your life more difficult now."
Nora wished that August understood as he brushed it off, "Eh, it takes a lot to scare me, and I've been around enough people to know who I'm dealing with."
She hoped he was right, but Amir wasn't someone to mess with. Nora witnessed first hand what it was like to go against Amir. She had never seen anyone display such outrageous behavior by trying to expose her. That was why she hoped that nothing happened for August's sake since she knew all about Amir's business after Ruby told her what he does.
Past
Odette and Honora smiled at each other as they continued cleaning the house. Odette never really thought of Honora as her maid though. She treated her like a friend more than anything by taking breaks with her and sharing stories as Honora listened with a warm smile on her face. Even though Honora was a mute, she still offered some encouragement by putting a comforting hand on her shoulder whenever Odette told her of her concerns like her father.
As soon as her father came back with Baelfire, Odette noticed the scrape on her brother's knee. She stopped what she was doing and went over to him to ask him what happened. He just brushed her aside and told her that he was fine.
"Thank you, Honora," her father said, turning to her before dismissing her, "You can fetch us our supper now."
Odette knew better than to follow her since she didn't want to argue with her father, but her eyes soon widened when Baelfire looked at his father and told him as soon as Honora left, "You killed that man."
"What? What are you talking about?" Odette asked Baelfire, but when she didn't get an answer, she turned to her father. "What is he talking about, Papa?"
Her breath grew still when he admitted, "Bae was hurt. I could never let anyone harm either of you. Speaking of which—"
He then sat by Bae's side, and when they saw their father's hand glowing and was about to go over Bae's wound, Baelfire stopped him by grabbing his hand. He told his father that he didn't want him to use magic, but Rumple argued that his magic would heal him easily. After hearing her twin brother, Odette went over to one of their cupboards to take out the first-aid as she set it on the table beside her family.
As her father got ready to treat her brother, she reminded him, "You're different now, Papa. Can't you see it? You're hurting people all the time. Bae and I are just worried about you."
"What's there to be worried of?" Rumple asked when he turned his head at her. "I created a truce in the Ogre Wars, Odette. I walked into the field of battle and I made it stop. I led the children home. Surely, a man who's saved a thousand lives-"
"Is done," Bae cut him off when he saw Odette's conflicted face that refused to argue with their father. "A man who's saved a thousand lives can be done with it. You can stop doing things."
What they were saying didn't seem to be getting through to him. He kept tending to Baelfire's wound by pouring a bit of liquid from one of the bottles, causing Baelfire to wince in pain. It was as if Rumple was distracting himself from hearing his own children. However, he must have known that they cared about him too much, otherwise they would never voice their concerns over him.
"I can't. I need more power so I can protect you both."
Odette shook her head, arguing, "Except we wouldn't need protecting if it weren't for your powers.
"Well, I can't get rid of it."
"Have you tried?" Baelfire nearly snapped.
"Tried?" He paused for a moment to take out a strange dagger with his name sprawled on it as he sat across from the twins and explained, "If someone kills me with this, then they gain the power. You both see that? Is that what you want?"
The twins understood their father's worry, but it didn't mean that finding another method would be easy, which was why Odette reminded him, "We're not saying that, Papa, but there has to be another way to help-to get rid of the power. Let us help-"
She was cut off when the door opened, causing all of them to see Honora entering with the stew and saw the dagger in Rumple's hand. Odette noticed the fear in her father's eyes as he immediately sheathed his dagger back in his red cloak. As Honora placed the stew on the table, Rumplestiltskin dismissed her by waving his hand off while telling his children that they could look for other ways if they want, but he also reminded them to not get their hopes up.
As Honora left, Rumple grabbed one of the bowls and poured the stew as he handed Baelfire his meal before he began pouring one for his daughter, so she sat next to her brother and told her father, "Papa, we only want to help. If there's a way to get rid of these powers...without killing you or hurting us, wouldn't you do it?"
"It's not possible," her father's tone grew more stern before handing her stew to her.
After hearing his tone, Baelfire interjected, "Wouldn't you do it? Don't you miss how happy we all we were?"
Rumplestiltskin clearly had enough of his children arguing with him after he set his stew in front of him and questioned them, "Are you both really that unhappy? I can conjureanything you desire. Name it. What do you both want?"
Knowing the answer her brother was going to give, Odette answered softly, "We just want our father back."
The same flicker of emotion crossed Rumple's face again from before. He was conflicted when he saw his children's upsetting faces. If there was one thing they knew about their father was the great lengths he would go for his children to do anything for them. Getting drafted into the Ogre Wars was proof of it as he went out of his way to obtain the dagger that he drew his powers from to stop the soldiers from taking Baelfire and Odette.
Both Baelfire and Odette were relived to see their father breaking out into a warm smile, and in that moment, Odette saw the father whom she once knew as he told them, "All I want is to see you both happy. If you find a way, I'll do it."
"Good." When Rumple started eating his stew, the twins shared a knowing look before extending their hands out towards their father, who looked at their hands for a moment before finally shaking their hands as Baelfire and Odette had bright smiles on their faces while Baelfire said, "The deal is struck."
Present
After Amir came across August, he kept thinking about how much gaul he had to tell him off. Clearly, August didn't know who he was dealing with. The more Amir thought about him though, the more he kept wondering who he was. He didn't think much of him in the beginning when he first saw him around town. Now that he came into town and insulted Amir, Amir needed to find out who he was since no one was supposed to come into this town.
A wicked idea soon came into mind as he walked down the sidewalk and went into Dusk Tailor where he found Nora stocking some inventory. She froze at the sight of him while Amir had a playful smirk on his face. Nora tried to ignore him though by continuing her work, but when she saw that he wasn't leaving, she questioned, "What do you want, Amir?"
He got straight to the point by asking, "How much do you know about the newcomer, August, isn't it?"
She looked at him for a moment, trying to understand where he was going with this. "He's a writer. That's all I know."
"He never said anything about where he came from?"
Nora shook her head, admitting, "He travels a lot from what Ruby's been telling me, but other than that, no."
It was hardly any information at all, and the more he stared at Nora, the more uncomfortable she was. She had a right to be since he threatened her many times before. If only she remembered that he wasn't an entirely awful person from their past lives like how he saved her from the soldiers when they were beating her senselessly and torturing her after Rothbart gave her to them to celebrate. However, Nora needed to learn that just because someone was nice to them before, doesn't mean that they would be again since not everyone had good intentions, and certainly Amir didn't. He did all of this blackmail to obtain information on others since he believed that knowledge was power.
"I want you to invite August to my bar." Nora's eyes widened as she quickly realized what he meant when he continued, "When I raise my glass, take him to the VIP room and see what you can get out of him. I want to know who he really is, where he came from, who his family is, who he loves, anything you can find out. Do whatever it takes...if you catch my drift."
As his words slowly processed in her head, she shook her head and refused. "No. I won't do it. You can't make me do it."
She didn't like the sickening smirk crossing his face. He then sighed and took out his phone to look for something as he tapped onto his phone. If she didn't want to do it, then he had no choice but to persuade her, and he knew exactly how to do it when he showed her a video of Ashley who was doing laundry in the back at Granny's Diner. Nora knew right then and there that it was a live recording.
"I had one of men looking after her for a while. You just never know what'll happen to people these days. A recently engaged woman and a new mother getting assaulted is a bland topic for even those lousy t.v. shows."
"You bastard," she seethed, which amused Amir.
"Now you understand?" When she didn't answer, his smirk grew wider when he noticed her eyes hardening with such hatred. "I know you may not care about yourself so much by telling me to expose you so that everything would be out in the open between you and Humbert, but you failed to see that I could make the people you love so miserable."
She grew numb at his threat since she couldn't believe this was happening to her. If she hadn't gotten involved with Amir, none of this would have ever happened. Now, Nora had to keep suffering to protect the people she cared about. However, the more Nora thought about what Ruby told her about Amir's business when it came to blackmailing people, the more she realized that maybe she could go along with whatever Amir was saying as an idea came to mind.
"Are you going to do it, or not?" It took a minute for Nora to nod her head, to which he smirked at since she didn't dare to look at him in the eye until her eyes narrowed at him when she heard him say, "Good."
As he walked out the door, she couldn't stop glaring daggers at him. She knew exactly what to do. The only reason why he had power over people was because of those recordings, which meant there was only one thing to do with them.
Nora headed over to Granny's Diner where she met a smiling Ruby. "Hey, Nora. Anything I can get you."
"No. I need to talk to you, Ruby."
Ruby didn't seem to understand the seriousness behind her tone as she went around to collect someone's bill. "Alright, spill."
"Not here," Nora nearly whispered.
When Ruby looked at Nora, she finally understood, so she looked around to see if Granny was looking before taking her to the hallway so that they could speak privately. "Alright. What is it?" Nora wasted no time explaining everything to her as Ruby listened intently. "I get it. You gotta do what you gotta do. You definitely don't want Graham to find out."
"Who says I won't tell him?" Ruby stared at her quizzically until Nora told her, "I'm going to tell him everything when it's all over."
"You mean after you sleep with August? You sure you wanna do it then?"
Nora understood Ruby's concern, but that wasn't what Nora meant. "No. I'm not going to sleep with August. I'm getting our videos back."
Ruby's eyes slowly widened when Nora told her the plan, so she reminded her in a hushed whisper, "If Amir finds out what you're doing, you're screwed."
"I'm damned if I do, and damned if I don't. I'm not going to be afraid anymore. Someone needs to stand up to him."
Nora really did have enough of Amir. After everything she had been through with her abusive father, she swore she was never going to allow anyone to take advantage of her. She knew Amir's game. If she played the same sneaky tactic, then he wouldn't notice a thing. If there was no evidence of him killing Kathryn and Derek, then there had to be evidence of the woman he recruited to sleep with people in Storybrooke so that he could gain information on them. Nora was determined to find the recordings and expose him to the police department so that he would finally pay for all that he had done.
Past
After Baelfire told Odette that Honora was killed by their father, Odette took it upon herself to make a funeral for her. It wasn't much what she did, but she thought that she could at least honor her someway by gathering some stones and putting them on top of each other near her home. She then made a small boat made of twigs and string before heading over to the stream nearby and watched it set sail.
Odette made a little boat once before and watched it sail away when her father told her that her mother was killed by pirates. She imagined that the person's spirit was on the boat and going into the unknown to make a journey to Heaven. A part of Odette wished it was a full-sized boat to take her away from here like what she dreamed of when she was little. It had always been a dream of hers to see far off places and witness what different lands offered, but that was all it would ever be-a hopeless dream. She could never leave her brother and her father on their own, especially with her father like this.
When she heard rustling nearby, she turned her head to see her twin brother approaching her. Odette didn't bother saying anything to him since she was too upset to speak, so she turned back around to watch her little boat leave her until it disappeared to which Baelfire noticed. He sat on the log beside her and watched the stream with her.
"You did the same thing for mother when she died."
She didn't even look at him in his eyes as she questioned, "Why are you here?"
"Papa was asking me where you were."
As soon as he mentioned their father, she immediately thought about the power that was consuming him. None of this would be happening if Rumplestiltskin didn't grow obsessed with the magic that the dagger gave him. Odette thought that if Baelfire and her helped him, then he would be able to control himself, but it was no use. He was growing worse everyday, and it made Odette incredibly wary to lose the father she loved so much.
"What are we going to about him? There has to be a way to get rid of his powers."
She finally turned her head at him when he told her, "That's why I wanted to find you first before Papa found you. Morraine told me Ruel Ghorm."
"What?"
"She heard other soldiers talking about it when she was in the trenches. She says it's an ancient being that rules the night. I want you to come with me so that we could meet them."
It sounded too good to be true as Odette asked, "Are you sure, Bae? We don't even know who this person is. What if they're worse than Papa?"
"We have to try. We don't have any other choice." She was about to argue with him until Bae brought, "Do you want to see Papa get worse?"
It took her a moment for her to finally admit, "No."
"Then let's meet them tonight."
It was a gamble, but Odette was willing to do whatever it took to get her family back, so she agreed, "Okay. We'll go tonight."
Present
As Nora was getting ready, she couldn't help but get so nervous. She had no idea how this was going to go to get her video back from Amir. Nora needed to do this though. It was time for her to channel Amir a bit and play his game by doing something unexpected to see him behind bars. She didn't care what Graham would think of her anymore. If he never wanted to speak to her again after she told him everything when she handed him the evidence, then so be it. As long as Amir was behind bars to pay for all that he had done to her, to Ruby, and possibly countless of others who he blackmailed.
When Nora finished, she took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. She wore a mini green satin dress that was backless and sleeveless. She completed the ensemble with white open-toed heels, and simple gold earrings, the swan necklace that Gold gave her, and a bracelet. Her makeup didn't look like it was caked on her. It showed off her natural beauty more by going over her smooth, ivory skin and made her complexion, her eyes, and her lips pop more. She then went over to grab a white clutch before taking a hard drive since she was convinced that the recordings had to be on his computer, and if this hard drive worked to hack into Amir's computer like what Graham and Emma did when they broke into Regina's office, then she was certain to find something in his laptop. She also wore a bobby pin in her hair with a fake pearl at the end to make herself look more stylish, but she was really bringing it to unlock his door just in case it was locked.
Nora's phone then buzzed as soon as she grabbed it, so she looked at the caller ID and became nervous when she saw Graham's name, but she still answered the call and acted naturally the best she could, "Hey, Graham."
"Hey, I just closed the station, and I thought I might come by to see you."
She panicked a bit and asked, "You don't have anything else to do? I thought you and Emma were still going over Mary Margaret's case with Mr. Gold."
"We talked it over a lot, and right now, all we can do is let Gold handle it." Nora froze on the phone, trying to think a good excuse so that he wouldn't come over, but Graham beat her to it as he clearly noticed her silence. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," she quickly answered. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know. You just seem a little...on edge about something. Maybe I should come over."
"No," Nora told him in slight panic and froze when she realized that she made a mistake with her tone, so she sighed and came up with a lie in a more calming tone, "No. I...I've just been in a lot of stress at work. Ruby wanted to take my mind off of it by hanging out with her."
"Knowing Ruby, it's probably a bar or a club."
"The Rabbit Hole."
She felt guilty when she heard him say, "Good. As long as you don't go to The Moonlight Mirage, then that's fine. I just don't want yo to get hurt."
"I won't."She smiled sadly over the phone as she knew there was no going back after this and that she may get caught by Amir, so she did something bold by telling him, "I love you, Graham."
He froze through the call, and Nora could tell he had a smile on his face when he confessed, "I love you too, Nora."
As soon as Graham hung up, she kept her phone by her ear and couldn't stop smiling to herself since she knew that she may never see him again considering how dangerous Amir was. Nora was incredibly afraid, but she needed to have risks to make a difference. She wasn't going to allow Amir to get away with everything he did. That was why she looked at herself in the mirror again and told herself that she could do this before heading to The Moonlight Mirage where she met August outside.
When he greeted her, she told him, "Thanks for meeting me."
He gave her a charming smile and said, "No problem. I'm just still a little surprised that you wanted to see me. Isn't your boyfriend Deputy Humbert?"
"You know I have a boyfriend?"
"The key to being a writer is to observe your surroundings and know exactly who your characters are."
She was rather impressed, but she still needed August so that Amir wouldn't be suspicious if she came in alone. "Graham won't mind, and besides, I kinda...owe you for what you did back at the diner."
"I thought you told me not to get involved."
"Maybe sometimes you need to take a little risk," Nora said with a smirk.
He grinned before gesturing for her to go inside to which she did. The Moonlight Mirage was as rowdy as ever. Many people always came here to escape their worries, but Nora was here to take down the very man who owned it as she found Amir at the pool table, talking to a bunch of people before he finally noticed Nora and smirked at her. She ignored him though and headed over to the bar with August to grab a drink.
"So, you never said why you came to Storybrooke," Nora asked to distract herself from Amir's gaze.
He took a sip of his beer before admitting, "I was looking for someone. My father."
"Did you find him?"
He shook his head, and Nora noticed that he had a sad smile on his face as he admitted, "Yeah, I did recently. We've been...separated for a long time."
"And, did you speak to him?"
"No. Not yet." She was confused until he told her, "It was a difficult parting. We still have a lot of issues to resolve."
Even though August had a smile on his face, Nora could hear the sadness in his voice, and it was upsetting to hear, so she gave him some words of encouragement. "I'm pretty sure your father would want to hear you out. I can't really relate since I don't have a relationship with my father anymore, but if I had someone who really loves me, I would do whatever it takes to see them again."
When Nora looked over at Amir, he took a sip of drink and raised his glass, giving her the signal. It was time to unfold her plan. There was no going back after this. She just hoped that August followed along since she was risking everything to get the recordings back.
"Why don't we head to the back?" she asked him.
He stared at her with a puzzled expression as he looked over at the entrance that led to the hallway. "Why? What's there?"
"You'll just have to follow me to see."
When she took August's hand, she was relieved that he followed her. She caught a quick glance at Amir and saw his wicked smirk. She hoped that he wasn't smiling for too long when she exposed him to the police force.
They headed down the hallway where she saw Mr. Smith guarding one of the doors. He must be on guard for Amir's office. She knew she needed to get rid of him so that she could get in there, and she knew that he was going to be the one to record everything since he was the only one here. Before she went into the VIP room, she told August to wait by the door next to them that led to the VIP room before going over to Mr. Smith.
"You need to be in the VIP room, Moon," Smith reminded her in a hushed whisper so that August wouldn't hear.
"I know, but I was just wondering if you could get me another drink." He raised a brow at her and was skeptical, so Nora lied, "Isn't it better to get him drunk enough to say everything. That's what Amir wants, right? Information."
He glanced at August before turning back to her, "I'm not supposed to leave here."
Nora turned on her charm and told him, "You can think of a good excuse. Just get us a whole bottle of wine or something. I need to get him talking, and right now, he's not saying anything. I think getting him drunk's going to help."
It took him a moment, but he finally nodded his head, "Fine. Just get him in the room and try to talk to him. Get something at least."
She gave him a small smile and thanked him as he walked out of the hallway, leaving them alone. Before August had a chance to question her, she immediately got down on her knees to take her bobby pin out and tried to break in. That was when August came over to ask, "What are you doing?"
Nora got straight to the point by telling him, "I don't have time, okay? Can you just be a lookout and give me more time if he comes back?" Instead of agreeing right away, he stared at her, and Nora thought this wasn't going to work until he took the bobby pin out of her hand and unlocked the door so quickly before opening the door for her. "How did you do that?"
"It's not my first time," he said, smirking at her before saying, "I'll be lookout."
She smiled at him and headed inside to get her recordings back before Smith came back.
Past
Baelfire and Odette snuck out of their home and headed into the forest. Baelfire carried a lantern to light their way while Odette stayed near him. When he looked over at his sister, he noticed how nervous she was, so he told her, "Don't be afraid, Odette. I'm here."
"But, I am afraid, Bae. I'm afraid who this ancient being is and if they could help Papa." Bae was disappointed since he already had been over it many times with Odette when she voiced her concerns over the person they were going to meet, but he turned back to her when he heard her admit, "But, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help him. Life means nothing if you don't take risks."
The twins smiled at each other and continued to go deeper into the forest. They felt like they had been traveling for a while until they finally stopped and sat by a tree. Both Baelfire and Odette looked at the sky to find the blue star so that they could call outReul Ghorm, to which they did. They didn't know which star to call to, but they thought they reach out to the powerful being.
"If you can hear us, please make yourself known. We need your help. We don't know who else to turn to," Baelfire called out while taking Odette's hand as the twins closed their eyes and waited patiently.
They continued waiting until theyfinally heard a flutter of wings beside them, so they opened their eyes to see a beautiful fairy. She wore a blue intricate dress and carried a wand in her hand. There was something about her that made the twins drawn to her. They never had seen a fairy before, but they heard stories about them from many of the villagers when they were young.
"Can you help us?" Bae asked.
"I can help," her sweet voice told the twins.
Odette, however, was still wary since she was not sure about the fairy's magic after seeing what her father could do with his. "How can you help us? The magic we've seen hasn't been good at all."
"Then you have not come across good magic. I assure you, I'm on the right side." She then carefully looked at the twins before her face turned puzzled. "Oh! And you're not untouched by magic, are you, children? There's something dark in your lives."
Baelfire and Odette glanced at each other with a knowing look before Baelfire admitted, "Our father. He's The Dark One."
"Oh! I can't make him the man he was before, but I can send him someplace where he won't be able to use his powers."
"You're not...going to imprison him, are you?" Odette voiced his concern. "We just want to be with him again...like how he was before he had his powers."
The fairy gave Odette a sweet smile and told her, "No, young one. Just a place without magic."
"But, magic is everywhere," Baelfire argued.
"In this world, yes. You see, what ails your father is specific to our realm. His powers do not belong here. You both must go where you can escape that wretched curse."
"Go? You mean, we have to leave?" Odette asked.
"Yes, it is the only way. Can you do it? Can you leave everything here behind for the unknown?"
Even though Baelfire quickly agreed, Odette was more adamant since she wasn't sure what this new world held. However, it was also a dream for Odette to see more worlds and lands. Could she finally do it? Did she really have a chance to leave? It sounded too good to be true, and Odette had no idea if her father would truly break from his bad behavior if they entered a new world. She needed to try though, and when Baelfire and the fairy turned to Odette, waiting for her answer, she knew she had to say something.
Eventually, Odette nodded her head and gave the fairy a small smile. "It's a risk we need to take to help him."
The fairy smiled brightly at the twins for their courage and for their loyalty as she remarked, "You're very good children, Baelfire and Odette. You both are the part of him that keeps him human. That little light inside of him that still glows. It's his love for you. Hold out your hand."
Baelfire extended his hand, waiting for the fairy to take something small out before tossing it delicately for Baelfire to catch. The twins looked at the item and realized it was a bean. It was nothing like they had ever seen before though. It was clear as a crystal and luminescent in the night.
"What is it?" Bae asked the fairy.
"A magic very last one that is known to our kind. The others got away from just use it wisely and follow wherever it leads you. It'll save your family."
As she spoke, Baelfire examined it in the air, causing Odette to look at it. There was no doubt that they were both wondering if it will work, but if the fairy promised them that the bean would work, then they needed to take that chance. They were willing to do whatever it took to help their father as they smiled at each other before thanking the fairy and headed back home to tell their father.
They rushed home and found their father spinning straw at his wheel. He then turned to them when they called out to him after they came through the door. For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off the wheel. It was like he was entranced by it. Odette and Baelfire needed to talk to him. They didn't want to waste a second.
Odette sat opposite from him to remind him of his deal as she told him with somewhat excitement for her discovery with her brother, "Papa, Bae and I-we found it. We found a way for things to be like what they were. You can be yourself again. That's why we want you to come with us so that we can help you so that we can make things right after you saved us with the price for having these powers." When she saw that he wasn't even paying attention to her by continuing to spin his wheel and seemed conflicted to even acknowledge of the deal he made with his children, she got a little serious by asking him, "Have you ever heard of the Ruel Ghorm?"
That got his attention as he finally stopped spinning the wheel and turned to the twins by questioning them, "Blue Star? Oh, please tell me you both didn' magic doesn't mix well with what I am."
Odette was disappointed when she realized that he wasn't willing to hear them out while Baelfire grew more agitated as he reminded him, "But you promised. She can help us. To take us to a place without magic."
"A place without magic," their father scoffed before standing to walk around the room. "I'd be powerless. Weak."
"Like everyone else. It wouldn't matter. We'd be happy."
"We could be happy here."
Even though Odette never liked to argue with her father, she didn't have any other option since she saw that what Baelfire was saying was not getting through to their father, so she stood and slowly went over to him, catching him off guard a bit as she spoke in a desperate yet sweet voice, "Papa, please. You have to understand that we only want to help you. You're getting worse. You saved us from The Ogre Wars, and now it's our turn to save you."
When she extended her hand out to him, he looked at it and froze, but he soon turned to his son when Baelfire grew serious and asked, "You made a deal with us. Are you backing out?"
Rumple stared at him for a moment and saw the fierceness that he inherited from his mother, but when he turned back to his daughter, he saw her gentle soul that reminded so much of him before his curse. Their father swore that he would do anything to see them happy again. He never wanted to see them get hurt, but if this was the way to see them happy, then he was willing to do it.
"No," he answered his son before taking his daughter's hand as she smiled at him to which he smiled back at her as he prepared to follow them into the woods.
Present
WhileAugust was Nora's lookout, Nora went into Amir's office and immediately went to his desk to open his laptop. There was a password that she needed to put in, but Nora was already prepared by taking out the hard drive and inserted it inside. The screen turned black before with green numbers appearing on it as the computer was being hacked. It took about a minute before Nora successfully got in the Home Screen as she smiled.
She then got to work by looking for the right file. The problem was that he had so many files on his computer that she had to open almost every single one to find the right ones. There was nothing but bills and business transactions, but they weren't anything incriminating. By the time she opened the twentieth file, she froze when she heard Mr. Smith, "Hey, Isn't Nora Moon supposed to be with you? Where'd she go?"
Nora was thankful for when she heard August covering for her, allowing her to continue snooping through his computer. "Bathroom. She said she'd come back soon."
"Well, she told me to bring in a bottle of wine."
"Oh, I'll take that. Did she really pay for this?"
It took a minute for Smith to say, "It's compliments from Mr. Khan."
"Really? They don't seem that close."
"Mr. Khan always treats his guests well."
Nora froze when she heard the doorknob turning before she heard a thump on the door frame, so Nora went over to the door to see what happened and was shocked to see Smith on the ground, clutching his head before August gave him a good punch, knocking him out. "What are you doing?" she panicked.
He didn't seem to understand what he did as he told her, "What? You said to be a lookout, and I couldn't really think of anything else other than knocking him out. Now, are you gonna get what you need, or are you just keep standing here?"
She stared at August for a moment and thanked him before going back inside Amir's office and noticed August tying up Smith and threw him in the VIP room. By the time he came inside the office, he asked if she got what she needed. She told him not yet, so he went over to the doorframe to see if anyone else was coming. Thankfully, no one did, allowing Nora to keep snooping.
She froze for a split second when she finally found the right file and saw herself with Amir. She couldn't take her eyes off the screen as her eyes slowly narrowed. Nora was absolutely disgusted that Amir could keep such a provocative video and use it to blackmail her. The next video she opened was Ruby's, and Nora had to look away after seeing several of videos of her friend with many men in Storybrooke. It was just unbelievable.
Nora moved the files to store them in the hard drive and took a breath before finding more videos of his victims. They were many women that she recognized, so Nora made sure to store them all to show to Emma and Graham as proof of what Amir did. However, her eyebrows furrowed when she opened one of the videos and saw another familiar face: Kathryn Nolan. It wasn't just one video of her. There were several of them-a lot more than any of the other woman he recorded.
Nora then found many checks that he kept for that were sent to Kathryn Nolan mostly, which shocked her. She counted about ten checks and saw that there were other checks sent to the local physical therapist. It then made Nora realize what Mary Margaret told her about David Nolan when his wife hired a physical therapist for David to get treated. Nora quickly realized that Amir was paying for David's physical therapy.
The last file shook Nora as she saw a diagram on how to take out a car's brakes. Nora then remembered when Kathryn Nolan's car was out of control as Graham and Emma found her car just before they went outside the town line. On top of that, Nora was also aware when the patrol car's brakes weren't working either as Graham told her what happened.
A chill swept down Nora's spine as she realized that Graham was right all along. Amir killed Kathryn, and if he killed her, then he probably killed Derek too. Nora didn't understand though why he killed them until she thought back what Graham told her about Derek. Derek tried to warn Graham about Amir, and Graham didn't listen. Maybe Derek knew what was going on and was killed because of it, and Amir killed Kathryn because she probably didn't want to do it anymore or threatened to expose him in some way. Whatever his reason was for killing Kathryn, the videos seemed enough to motivate Amir to kill her.
Nora quickly stored every last file that created a link between Amir and Kathryn so that Emma and Graham would finally get him and prove Mary Margaret's innocence. She also made sure to move the diagram of the car into the hard drive while she paced her breathing. August kept asking her if she was okay when he noticed her fidgeting and breathing heavily, but she didn't even answer him.
Instead she took out the hard drive and shut Amir's laptop before heading out, but August stopped her by taking her shoulder. "Hey, Nora. What is it?"
She looked she was ready to cry, but she needed to be strong as she told him, "I just-I need to get out of here." Nora fiddled her clutch by trying to put the hard drive inside as she walked ahead and exited through the back with August before stopping to tell him, "August, you should go. There's something I need to take care of."
When he heard the desperation in her voice, he questioned, "You sure you don't want me to come with you?"
"I'll be fine."
He nodded his head and told her to take care of herself as he watched her go. Nora immediately headed back to her apartment while calling Graham to meet her at her place. He tried asking her what was wrong, but she urgently told him to hurry, so he told her that he would be there soon. Nora then went to Emma's apartment and knocked on the door, waiting for her to open it.
"Nora, hey." She noticed what Nora was wearing and asked, "I'm guessing you had a girl's night with Ruby." As soon as Emma noticed how distressed Nora was, she lingered at the doorway and asked seriously, "What's wrong?"
Before she had a chance to tell her, Graham appeared as he made his way up the steps, but he slowed down when he saw tears spilling down his girlfriend's face, so he went over to her to cup her face and wiped away her tears. "Hey, Nora. What is it?"
She sniffed out a sob as she admitted, "You were right about Amir." Both Emma and Graham froze when they heard her before she took out the flash drive from her clutch and showed it to them, but she didn't hand it to Graham just yet since she needed to tell him the awful truth first. "There's something you need to know before you this."
Emma let Graham and Nora inside so that Nora would feel more comfortable to talk in a safe space so that she could reveal everything to them as Emma shut the door behind them. Nora was done with Amir's dirty games. She refused to let him win. If this was the price that Nora had to pay by losing Graham so that Amir would go to jail, then she was willing to pay it.
Past
Odette went on ahead of her father, still holding onto his hand while Baelfire led them to an area that would be a perfect place to throw the bean. Odette was a bit anxious, but she thought that as long as she had her family by her side, then all would be well. They needed to take this chance to be a family again. The twins weren't going to allow their father's dark magic ruin their lives.
"Where are we going? What kind of world is this we're going to? What kind of world is without magic?" Rumple questioned.
They stopped to an area that they thought was good enough as it was spacious and far enough from the village as Baelfire took out the magic bean from his pocket and showed it off to his father. "A better one."
As soon as Baelfire threw the bean a few feet away from them, Odette turned to her father and saw him staring at the bean with a worried look on his face, so she assured him, "It's okay. We're here, Papa."
Baelfire then took Odette's hand as they smiled at each other while Odette was between them, holding onto their hands and clutched tightly when the bean glowed and sunk into the ground. Her breath hitched in her throat when the ground opened and revealed a swirling vortex. That was the portal that was going to lead them to a new home.
All of their hopes only took a jump through the portal, but their father became extremely concerned when the portal grew bigger and the winds whirled around them. "My gods. It's like a tornado!"
When he tried backing away, Odette tried calming him down. "Don't be afraid, Papa. We're here for you. When we get through, everything will be alright."
What she was saying wasn't getting through to him, which made her anxious as he all he did was stare at the portal and shook his head. "No, no. I don't think I can."
"We must. It's the only way," Baelfire urged.
When Baelfire tried pulling his sister so that she would encourage their father to follow them, Rumple clutched her hand and pulled her back a bit, stopping them, "No, no, no, no, no. It's a trick. It'll tear us apart."
"It's not."
Odette then stepped in by turning back to her father and saw his terrified face. "Papa, it'll be okay. We wouldn't let anything happen to you if we didn't know it wasn't safe. We promise."
As soon as she said, the portal grew, and Baelfire lost his footing, taking Odette down as she yelped, but she continued holding onto both her brother and her father. She didn't want to part with either of them. She wanted all of them to go in together so that they could be in their new home as a family again.
Her worries grew though when Rumple took out his dagger and struck it to the ground, keeping them from falling inside as he tried pulling his children back up, to which Baelfire noticed as he panicked, "What are you doing? It won't stay long. You have to let go."
His pleas weren't enough to convince their father as he refused by telling them that he couldn't go through the portal, so Odette desperately told him, "Papa, you have to trust us. This may be our only chance for us to be together."
"No, Odette. I can't do it."
She looked like she was about to cry when she saw how much her father was struggling to go through it, so she pleaded, "Papa, please! Please, do it!"
"I can't!"
Odette's head snapped at her twin brother when she heard his frustration, "You coward!You promised! Don't break our deal!"
"I have to!"
A tear escaped Odette's eye when she looked back at her father and saw mixed emotions crossing his face when he couldn't jump through the portal. He made sure to wrap his arm around his dagger so that his hand was free while Odette and Baelfire watched with horror, knowing he was going to use magic. His hand glowed, and Odette felt herself being tugged, so she turned back to her brother and desperately tried to hold onto him before she felt a great force pulling her back, causing her to yelp before hitting her head with a thud while Baelfire called out for their father as he was sucked into the portal.
When the portal closed, Rumple saw his daughter knocked out, so he immediately went over to her and brushed the hair away from her face as he treated her delicately before he looked around and noticed that Baelfire wasn't around. "Bae? Bae!" He rushed over to the spot where the portal opened as he tried digging into the ground. "No, no, no, no, no. No, no, Bae. I'm sorry, Bae!I want to come with you! I want to come with you, Bae! I want to come with you! Bae! Bae! Bae!"
As soon as he realized what he had done, he looked back at Odette and went over to her as he cradled her head and held her close. He may have his daughter by pulling her back using his magic, but he thought that she would hold on to her brother. She must have been so surprised that it forced her to let go, and now, she lost her brother just as Rumple lost his son. His eyes narrowed, knowing that he needed to confront the one person who gave them the bean, so he placed her back on the ground and caressed her cheek before standing up to call out to the Blue Fairy.
"Reul Ghorm! Show yourself!" When the Blue Fairy emerged, he whipped around to face her as he seethed, "How do I find him?"
"You had the way. You didn't take it. And there are no magic beans."
He smirked wickedly and pointed an accusatory finger at her. "That's a lie."
"We don't do that," she told him, shaking her head.
"A lie."
"You will never it to that world."
"Well, I'll find a must be other paths." His smirk kept growing as he questioned, "A realm jumper?"
"No."
"A time turner?"
"No."
"A mage?"
"There is no-"
She froze when Rumple barked out, "A curse?"
"No."
Her hesitation was clear to him as he knew his answer and grinned victoriously. "Ah! So it is a curse."
The fairy was disappointed when she told him, "Of course you would think of a curse instead of a blessing. Your magic is limited by its own rotten core, Rumplestiltskin. Anyway, it can't be done. Not without a great price."
"I've already paid a great prince."
"So, you'd be willing to sacrifice this world for the next? Because that's how great the price is."
He sneered at her as he asked, "Well, what do you think?"
Realizing his intentions, she told him, "Well, then I'll comfort myself knowing that such a curse is beyond your abilities."
"Oh, for now. But I've got all the time in the world. I will do nothing else, Iwilllovenothing else! I will find a way." He pointed his dagger at her as he said, "You took my son. But I will get him back."
"I didn't take your son."
He got more frustrated the more he spoke to her as he yelled out, "You took my son! But I will get him back!"
She leaned in as she told him the harsh truth, "You drove him away, and Odette will be the next one to leave you."
He already lost his son. If Odette left him, then he would truly be alone. He couldn't afford that. She was all he had left. Rumple was determined to keep her by his side no matter what it took, and he wasn't going to allow the Blue Fairy to stay here anymore as he took out his frustrations out on the fairy by swinging his dagger at her. She quickly dodged out of the way before flying away when he tried to strike her down.
"I will find him! I will find him! I will find him."
Present
Emma and Graham wasted no time getting the arrest warrant from the judge as they immediately went to The Moonlight Mirage to arrest Amir Khan. They didn't even waste time. They barged inside, shocking some of the people there and the employees while Nora waited outside with Ruby after she told her friend everything that happened.
When Emma and Graham saw that Amir wasn't anywhere to be found, they went to Mr. Smith who was really nervous when they approached him and showed off their badges. "We're here for Khan. We have a warrant for his arrest" Graham got to the point as he showed off the warrant.
"Mr. Khan?"
Emma gave him a puzzled expression as she noticed something off. "Is he here?"
She noted his hesitation and shoved past him when he didn't answer quickly enough. They went into the hallway and bursted through the rooms to look for him. He was nowhere in sight though. At that moment, Emma and Graham shared a knowing look, thinking that Amir must have found out what Nora did and escaped before Emma and Graham had a chance to arrest him.
When a couple of his employees came inside, Graham glared at Smith before grabbing him and shoving him against the wall as Emma pleaded for Graham to stop, but it was no use. Graham was incredibly frustrated after finding out what Amir did to Nora. He wasn't going to rest until he saw him behind bars. The amount of rage in his eyes terrified Smith.
"Where is he?" Graham sneered at him.
"I-I don't know. He took off."
Graham shoved him into the wall, banging Smith's head before letting him. He then proceeded into the bar as he gave a strict order for everyone to exit the building. Everyone was confused until Graham showed off his badge and barked out for everyone to leave since this was now a crime scene. All of the employees and customers left the building as Emma and Graham led them all out and were the last ones to leave before shutting the doors while Graham yelled out that no one was allowed inside. Emma then instructed everyone to return home, leaving so many confused people.
Not long after, the press showed up as Sidney stepped out of his car with a camera to take pictures of the scene as did a few other reporters. Emma and Graham were confused until Regina showed up in her car and came out with a smirk on her face. She stepped out of her vehicle and made her way over to the sheriff and her deputy. They knew that the judge told Regina what happened since Regina practically owned all of the judges in town.
"Sheriff Swan. Deputy Humbert," Regina greeted. "I heard what happened."
"Why aren't we surprised by that?" Graham asked rhetorically with disdain.
"This may come as a shock to you, deputy, but I care about the people in this town."
"We're investigating here, Regina," Emma stepped in.
"To which the town is thankful for." They then looked to see Sidney and the rest of the press going over to Nora, Ruby, and a few other women. "The judge listed the names of Amir's victims to me, and I thought that the women here would want publicity to show the kind of man he is."
"They never agreed to that," Emma reminded her.
"They will once they realize how much Amir Khan has damaged this town."
Graham had enough when he saw Nora turning away from the flashing cameras as Ruby told them to leave them alone, so he made his way over there and moved Sidney aside to stand in front of him, protecting Nora. "I'm only doing my job," Sidney reminded him when he saw Graham's piercing stare.
"Well, we don't want you anywhere near us," Ruby defended.
They then froze when Regina made her way over to them with a horrible grin on her face as if she was enjoying this. "It's alright, Deputy Humbert." Nora's eyes hardened at the mayor when she noticed her looking at her as she spoke, "They deserve our sympathy after all. That's why the press is good to get their stories out."
As Ruby and Graham told her to leave them alone, Nora couldn't take her eyes off of her. She couldn't believe that Regina was actually enjoying this. It sickened her to think that the mayor was playing a similar game to what Amir was doing by acting like that she cared for her personal gain. Nora had enough of her though. First, she continued to sleep with Graham when she knew that Nora was seeing him, then she threatened Nora at her work to stay away from Graham, and finally, she came into her work to ask her how business was that made Nora feel uneasy.
"Graham. Ruby. It's okay." Nora swallowed the small lump in her throat as she stepped in and faced Regina while giving her a hard stare with tears slowly welling in her eyes but refused to escape so that she wouldn't give Regina the satisfaction before addressing her, "It's your responsibility as mayor to look out for your people, right?"
She smirked as she replied, "Right."
Nora nodded her head and asked, "So, do you have any plans to find Amir, or not?"
"Not yet, but I assure you, Khan will be found."
"Oh,I hope you do."
As soon as Nora turned away, she heard Regina say, "You'll be the first to know."
Without any hesitation, Nora immediately formed a fist and whirled around to backhand her. Her fist made contact with Regina's cheek, causing her to stumble back and getting caught by Sidney. The cameras couldn't stop flashing at Nora as she stared at Regina with so much hate before finally being pulled away by Graham.
Past
When Odette stirred from her sleep, her eyes slowly opened, and she found herself back home in her bed with her father by her side. She looked around for her twin brother, only to realize that he wasn't there. She immediately sat up with her heart pounding against her chest and breathing heavily after remembering what her father had done.
"Odette. Odette. It's alright," her father said, trying to calm her down. "It's alright."
"Wh-Where's Bae?" When he didn't answer, she shook her head. "How could you? You used your magic to pull me away, and because of that, I let Bae go. You don't know what you've done."
"I know. I realized my mistake, Odette," he admitted, "If I went through the portal, we all would've been together."
He was upset to see her sobbing for her brother. "Except now we can't. We're here, and he's in another world all by himself. None of this would've happened if you would have just trusted us."
She nearly shook when he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as he apologized to her softly, "I'm sorry, Odette. I may have broken our deal, but I swear to you, the one I won't break is this promise to find Bae. I will find him, and I will bring him back to us."
Odette stared at him and realized how serious he was as she hoped that he was telling the truth. She just hoped that he wouldn't take too long to find him because if he couldn't find a way, then Odette was going to do it. She didn't care what she had to face if it meant her family could be together again. Odette just wanted to find Baelfire as quickly as possible before her father grew lost in the power of the dagger that slowly darkened his heart everyday, and it scared her just thinking about it.
Present
After the horrible night Nora had, Graham comforted her in her apartment. Emma and Graham already released Mary Margaret after believing that Amir had enough motivation to kill Kathryn Nolan. Nora was terrified that Amir was still out there. She knew that he may be out to get her now. That was why she was glad that Graham was here.
She still couldn't believe that Graham was consoling her. Nora didn't think she deserved it after lying to him for so long. He even gave her a cup of tea to ease her nerves, but it wasn't helping since she still felt uneasy.
"How could you stand to look at me?" Nora asked him, causing him to turn to her after he put his arm around her shoulders. "I was with Amir when you told me to wait, and then, I didn't even tell you about anything that he did to me. You should hate me."
He stared at her long and hard before telling her, "But you told us in the end. No one could ever hate you for what happened. It wasn't even your fault. It was mine. If I would have told you about Regina sooner, then you wouldn't have been taken advantage of like that."
Nora's tears slowly fell, not believing that he was blaming himself for all of this. She then shook her head before kissing him, to which he accepted until she pulled away, letting more tears spill. Graham then wiped away her tears using his fingers when he cupped her face, but they refused to stop. Nora then cried in his arms when he held her close to him while he soothed her worries by telling her that everything was going to be alright now as he wasn't going to let anything happen to her.
Meanwhile, Amir was at the abandoned cabin where Ruby and Graham found the murder weapon that killed Kathryn Nolan and Derek. There was a handgun on the table as Amir took out a box of round bullets before filling the barrel. He had enough playing games with Nora. Now that she ruined his business, it was time for him to show that he wasn't someone to be messed with again. He was going to kill Nora Moon, and he didn't care what he had to do to see her dead after she ruined his new life in Storybrooke.
Yay! Nora finally told Graham and Emma everything, and things are really heating up now that Amir wants Nora dead. I also hope you enjoyed the little twist with August when he helped Nora out. I wanted to make this episode a little different rather than focus it on Rumple speculating who August was even though that was amazing, but I couldn't really find a way to blend that in. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter overall and like where the story is going. Please let me know what you think and what your expectations are.