Beane Odette - Reawakened - A Once Upon A Time Tale

— But in the heating vent? — she cried. — I don’t even know how to open that.

— Then someone broke into our house and planted it there.

— Do you not believe me?

— I believe you, Mary Margaret, but I need some evidence pointing in the right direction. So far it’s all been pointing the wrong way.

— What are you saying? — said Mary Margaret, sinking back down to the bench in the jail cell.

— I’m saying that it might be time to hire a lawyer, — Emma said.

— An excellent idea!

Both Emma and Mary Margaret turned to see Gold standing in the doorway, his cane held delicately in both hands. He nodded hello.

— What are you doing here? — asked Mary Margaret.

— Offering my legal services, — Gold said, coming into the room. — I can be very persuasive. Ask Ms. Swan. I found myself in that same seat not long ago, and now, look at me. A free man.

— It helps to have a judge in your pocket, — said Emma.

— It does, actually, yes, — he said. — But Ms. Blanchard, I’ve been following your case, and I believe you’d be well-advised to bring me in as your counsel. Immediately. I, too, can have you free of that cell quite soon.

— What she needs is for me to have space to do my job, Gold, not…

— No one is stopping you, — said Gold. — I’m simply offering to help…

— Please go.

Both Gold and Emma looked over to Mary Margaret.

— I think you should reconsider, Miss Blanchard, — said Gold.

— I wasn’t talking to you, Miss Gold, — she said, turning a steely gaze to Emma. — I was talking to the sheriff. I’d like to speak to my lawyer now. In private.

Emma eyed her curiously, shrugged, and turned to Gold.

— Okay, you win, — she said to Gold. — I hope you have her best interests at heart.

— Of course I do, — he said, smiling at Mary Margaret. — I have for some time.

They talked for fifteen minutes. By the time Mr. Gold left, Mary Margaret was feeling much better. Was Mr. Gold trustworthy? Absolutely not. But she knew that he was an enemy of Regina, and she felt sure Regina was trying to frame her. And so in this case, her enemy’s enemy was her friend.

She was only alone in her cell for a minute. Emma came back in and nodded at her, but didn’t ask about Gold. She didn’t have time to ask about anything, actually. A few minutes later, David showed up.

Mary Margaret watched in silence as David requested a few moments alone with her. Emma sighed and looked over in her direction.

— You’re popular right now, — she said. — You mind?

— No, — Mary Margaret said. — I’ll talk to him. — Of course she would. David was her only other advocate in town.

Emma turned back to David.

— You can have ten minutes.

— I need it to be alone.

She nodded.

— Okay. I’ll go get a coffee, — she said. — Again. Ten minutes.

Emma left them. David took a breath and went to the cell, where Mary Margaret waited hopefully, hands on the bars.

— You came, — she said.

— I needed to talk to you, — he said. — I did call Kathryn. I remember. We talked. She told me — Mary Margaret, she told me that she wanted you and me to be together. She gave us her blessing.

— She did?

He nodded.

— There’s more, though, — he said. — I remembered something else.

Mary Margaret waited, still hopeful. David could barely bring himself to say what he said next.

— I remembered something you said once, — he said, — about wanting to kill her. I need to ask you if you had something to do with Kathryn’s disappearance.

They stared at each other. Mary Margaret could not believe what she was hearing. Regina was supposed to be the liar; Regina was supposed to be the one making things up. This — this made no sense.

— When your phone records came back, when I found you wandering in the woods, when everyone thought you killed Kathryn… I stood by you. I never once doubted you. But now that everything is pointing toward me… You actually think I am capable of that?

David reached for the bar.

— I just don’t know anymore.

— Get out, — Mary Margaret said. — You are unbelievable, David.

— But I…

— Get out of my sight.

Mary Margaret spent a terrible night in the cell, tossing and turning. She knew one thing: Whatever was happening, Regina was behind it. She didn’t have evidence and she couldn’t prove it, but she knew. For her, it would be a matter of finding the hard facts. And in the meantime, she needed a few — only a few — to keep the faith.

Emma was growing more and more concerned that she wouldn’t be able to find a way to free her friend. The lab results had come back and confirmed that the heart was Kathryn’s. It was now a murder investigation. She, like Mary Margaret, believed Regina was somehow behind it, but so far Regina had bested her at every turn. So she went to the man she’d come to think of as the equalizer.

— I need your help, Mr. Gold, — Emma said to him. She was standing in his pawnshop, and he was behind the counter, a wry smile on his face.

— Do you?

— I do, — she said. — I think Regina is behind what’s happening with Mary Margaret. I just can’t prove it.

— And how can I help?

— I don’t know how to handle her, — she said. — I just don’t.

Gold smiled.

— Quite an act of humility, — he said. — I admire that, Ms. Swan. And you’re right to be wary. She is a dangerous woman. Very dangerous.

— So tell me, — Emma said. — Tell me how to beat her.

Emma and gold talked for two hours, developing their plan. When Emma felt ready, they headed back to the jail, intent on filling in Mary Margaret.

One problem: Mary Margaret wasn’t there.

Henry greeted them outside the sheriff’s office, where he was sitting with his book, leaning back against the door.

— Your plan is amazing! — he said when he saw them.

— What plan? — said Emma. — What are you doing here?

— I came to talk to Mary Margaret, but then I realized what was going on so I decided to wait for you.

Emma frowned at Gold, and the two of them went past Henry and into the office. A bolt of cold dread passed through Emma’s body when she looked at the empty jail cell.

— It appears Miss Blanchard has taken matters into her own hands, — Gold said. — What an interesting development.

Henry had come in behind them.

— Henry, — Emma said. — What did you do?

— I didn’t do anything, — he said. — I thought you did it. Isn’t this your plan?

— No, — Emma said. — But it might be someone else’s.

— Either that, or she escaped on her own, — said Gold. — The arraignment is at eight a.m. tomorrow, — Emma said, going to the cell to examine the door. — She’s a fugitive now; she’s in trouble.

— Then you have until eight a.m., — Gold said. — To find her.

— What can I do to help? — asked Henry.

— Go home, kid, — Emma said. — This is getting way too serious for you to be caught up in it.

— Miss Blanchard’s future is already in jeopardy, as you know, — Gold said, looking placidly at Emma with his penetrating eyes. — But I should also remind you that if you’re caught aiding her, yours may very well be, too.

— I don’t care, — Emma said, gathering her things. — I’d rather lose my job and help my friend.

— Even if it involves a miscarriage of justice?

— Even if.

— How interesting, — Gold said. — Friendship.

— Haven’t you ever had any friends, Mr. Gold? It changes things.