Chapter Text
The wolf, Carlos, led Evelyn, Malachara, and Jaheim through Cruella’s castle. There were other dogs they encountered on their path, but the dogs quickly ran away thanks to a growl from Carlos. Jaheim was baffled by the intelligence this wolf displayed, and based on the way Malachara was watching the wolf, he wasn’t the only one. Evelyn kept following diligently behind Carlos as if she saw nothing unusual about him.
“That wolf is pretty smart,” Jaheim said to Malachara.
“Yeah,” she replied. “It's almost scary how smart he is.”
“What are you saying?”
“That he's not a wolf. Or, not just a wolf, at least. It's like he's almost…human, somehow.”
Jaheim scoffed. “I think you're reaching a bit, Mal.”
“Do they not have people that can transform into animals in Agrabah?”
“Not really. And I haven't met anyone in the Enchanted Forest who can.”
“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. They say Maleficent can transform into a dragon.”
“Well, yeah. Of course, a powerful sorceress can transform into a dragon, but I imagine it's not super common.”
“How about this? If this wolf doesn't end up being a person on the inside, I'll give you five gold pieces. But if he is a person under all that fur, you have to give me five gold pieces. Deal?”
“I'll take that bet. Deal.”
The wolf stopped in front of a door and turned to the group.
“This must be her vault,” Evelyn said. Before she could try the handle, Jaheim stepped forward.
“Step aside, ladies,” he said with a haughty air to him. “It's my time to shine.” He took a running start towards the door in an attempt to kick it down, but his foot never made contact with the wooden door. Malachara waved her hand, and the door swung open on its own before Jaheim reached it. His momentum carried him forward as he tumbled to the stone floor. He heard Evelyn and Malachara attempting to suppress their laughter.
“You didn't need to do that,” Malachara said, her voice full of mirth. “The door was unlocked.” Jaheim jumped to his feet.
“It would've looked awesome if it had worked, though,” he said as Evelyn and Malachara walked past him into the vault. Jaheim followed after and passed Malachara as she stopped and looked at the wolf standing outside the door.
“Are you not coming?” she asked. Carlos whined and backed away from the threshold, his ears flattened and his tail tucked between his legs. “Okay. Why don't you stay out here and keep watch?”
The wolf turned around and sat in front of the door. Malachara decided to head deeper into Cruella’s vault to join Jaheim and Evelyn.
“Is he not coming?” Evelyn asked.
“I guess not,” Malachara shrugged. “Something about this room seems to scare him.”
“Then let's not stay here longer than we need to,” Jaheim said.
The three of them spread out to search for the diamond. Jaheim found himself in a room with a shelf full of jars while the girls searched a different room. As he passed the shelf, he heard the sound of tapping on glass. He turned to see one of the jars glowing blue. He stepped towards the shelf to get a closer look and saw a tiny woman dressed in a light blue frilly dress with a magenta ribbon tying her hair into a bun. The tiny woman pounded on the glass with her fists. Jaheim looked at the lid and saw air holes poked into it. She could breathe, but she couldn’t get out.
“Woah,” Jaheim said.
“Thank the gods you heard me!” the tiny woman said. Her voice was pitched up slightly, giving her an ethereal sound.
“What are you?” he asked.
“I'm a fairy. I've been trapped in this jar for so long. Can you help me?”
“Yes, I'll help you. Did Cruella trap you in here?”
“She did.” The fairy looked around cautiously. “She's not…here, is she?”
“No.”
“Good. I would hate for you to get caught trying to free me. The last person who tried to free me was caught by her before he could do anything. It didn't end well for him.”
“Okay. Do I just unscrew the lid?”
“Yes. I would've done it myself, but I couldn't use magic. I only have a limited supply of fairy dust left.”
Jaheim grabbed the jar as gently as he could, careful not to jostle the fairy inside as he unscrewed the lid. As soon as she had enough room to escape, the fairy flew out of the jar. She glowed with a blue light and grew to human size. With a roll of her shoulders, her wings folded into her back.
“Whoo! It is so nice to be out of that jar.” Before Jaheim could react, the fairy grabbed the jar from him and threw it to the ground, smashing it to pieces. “Take that you stupid piece of glass!”
“Jaheim?” Evelyn called. “Is everything okay?”
“You better not have broken anything dangerous,” Malachara said. The girls entered the room but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the fairy. “Oh.”
“Hi!” the fairy said enthusiastically. The group flinched at her volume and intensity.
“Hi,” Malachara said.
“Who’s your new friend?” Evelyn asked.
“Uh….” Jaheim had no idea how to respond to that. What was he supposed to say? Thankfully, the fairy answered for him.
“Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Jubilance!”
“Well,” Evelyn said with a kind smile, “you certainly live up to your name.”
“Sorry, am I too intense?” Jubilance asked. “I haven’t spoken to anyone in two years, so my people skills are a bit rusty.”
“You were in that jar for two years?” Jaheim asked. No wonder she wanted to get out so badly.
“Oh, don’t worry!” The fairy reassured. “Two years is nothing for a fairy.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know where Cruella keeps her diamonds, would you?” Malachara asked, eager to get back on task.
The fairy led them to a cabinet filled to the brim with diamonds. Malachara reached for the diamond on the top shelf and stuffed it into her satchel.
“We got what we came for,” she said. “Now, let’s get out of here before she gets back.”
“I don’t think that’s possible anymore,” Evelyn said.
The other three turned to see the wolf hunched forward and growling at them as he stood next to a woman. The woman had black and white hair, red lips, and dark eye makeup. Her red gloves contrasted her slim black dress and black and white fur coat. She wore a sour expression as her eyes bore holes into them.
“Hello, darlings,” Cruella said.
As she waited for the doorbell, Evie heard the door to the backyard open. She looked up from watching her brother and friends playing video games in front of her and saw Mal come in.
“Hey, Mal,” Henry said without looking away from the screen. He knew that if he did, Jay or Carlos would use that opportunity to get ahead of him.
“Hey, Henry,” Mal replied as she removed her shoes.
“What took you so long?” Carlos asked.
“Had to run to my dad’s house,” she explained. ”I spilled paint water all over myself, so I had to change.” Evie followed Mal into the kitchen.
”At least you got here before the pizza did. I’m pretty sure the boys would’ve scarfed it all down if you hadn’t.” As Mal put her bag on the counter, Evie noticed that something was off about her. “Something happened. You’re smiling.”
“So?” Mal replied. “Am I not allowed to smile?”
“Of course, you are. It’s just that you have serious RBF most of the time. I guess Ben’s into that.”
“How did you-?”
Evie turned to her best friend with an astonished smile. She’d only meant the Ben comment as an offhanded teasing remark. She watched as Mal’s face morphed from confusion to realization and landed on anger.
“You sneaky little-!”
“Careful, M. There’s a child present,” Evie replied teasingly. She put her chin in her hands and rested her elbows on the countertop. “I want to hear everything!”
Mal rolled her eyes. “There’s not much to hear. We ran into each other, we talked, that’s about it.” She paused. “Okay, I did tell him that I wouldn’t mind hanging out with him again.”
Evie almost squealed. “Tell him how you feel!”
“I need to figure out how I feel about him, first. I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I have no idea what to do with this. I don’t know if it’s good or bad. I just…Ugh! Why are feelings so hard?”
Evie was about to offer Mal some comforting words when she heard the doorbell ring.
“We’ll table this discussion for later,” she said. “Henry,”
“Yeah?” the boy said as he walked into the kitchen.
“Can you grab plates while I get the pizza?”
“Why do I have to grab them?” The boy grabbed a bottle of juice from the fridge and poured it into his cup.
“Because I have to get the pizza, and I’m in charge when Mom’s not home.”
“Fine,” Henry sighed as he grabbed the step stool. Evie went to answer the door. Henry grabbed the plates from the cabinet and set them on the counter, but he noticed that Mal wasn’t moving. She wasn’t reacting at all. She was just standing at the kitchen island and staring off into space.
“Mal? Are you okay?” She didn’t answer. It was like she couldn’t hear him, so lost in her head that the world around her didn’t exist. A tear fell down her cheek. Henry was starting to worry, and his anxiety only grew when Mal swayed and dropped to the floor. “Mal?”
No response. The boy ran over to Mal and gently shook her shoulder, trying to wake her up.
“Mal? Mal, what happened? Are you okay?”
Still no response. Henry saw something red staining her blonde hair. Blood.
“GUYS?! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH MAL!”
Carlos and Jay ran in from the parlor, Carlos going pale at the sight of blood in his friend’s hair. Evie ran in and threw the pizza box on the counter before pulling her little brother away from Mal as Jay and Carlos checked on her.
“What happened?” Evie asked Henry.
“Oh my god!”
“Check her pulse!”
“I-I don't know,” Henry said shakily. “She just—um—she started staring at nothing, th-then she started crying, then she fell over.”
“Got a pulse.”
“Is she breathing?”
“Oh my god. That’s blood.”
Evie needed to get Henry out of this situation before Jay and Carlos sent him into a panic attack. “Henry, I need you to run downstairs and grab my phone off my work table and bring it to me. Okay?” The boy nodded quickly before running out of the kitchen. Evie felt her heart become lighter as she heard Mal groan. She turned around in time to see Mal weakly push Jay away from her. Jay gave her some space as she came to.
“The hell? Why am I on the floor?”
“I must say, well done, darlings,” Cruella said to the group of teenagers frozen in fear before her. “Not many intruders have been able to get past my dear Carlos,” she reached down and scratched the growling wolf on the head, “much less enlist him in stealing from Mummy, but I'm afraid that this is the end of the line. If Rumplestiltskin wants that diamond, he should come down here himself instead of getting children to do his dirty work.”
“How do you know it was Rumplestiltskin who sent us?” Mal asked. “We could've just stumbled upon this castle and broken in.”
Cruella laughed. “Please! That little imp tried to make a deal with me not too long ago. I'll be caught dead before I make another deal with the Dark One.” The fur-wearing woman noticed the fairy in their little group. “I see you escaped. It's a shame you won't leave this castle. None of you will.”
Cruella knelt beside the snarling wolf and whispered in his ear.
“Carlos, darling. Be a good boy for Mummy.”
She extended her arm and pointed to the group.
“Sic.”
Green smoke emanated from her mouth and filled the wolf’s airway. Carlos’s eyes turned bright green, and the smoke coalesced around his mouth before disappearing. He stalked toward the group.
“Hey, buddy,” Jaheim said nervously. “It's us. We freed you, remember?”
“He can't help us,” Evelyn said. “Cruella's in control.”
The wolf lunged at the group, but Jubilance threw a handful of fairy dust at him, causing Carlos to drop to the floor as a cloud of light blue smoke enveloped his body.
“No!” Cruella shouted.
“What did you do to him?” Malachara asked the fairy. The smoke around Carlos dissipated to reveal a young man around Evelyn, Malachara, and Jaheim’s age. The young man was dressed in black and white rags that matched the white hair on his head. He stared at his hands with wonder.
“I set him free,” Jubilance said. The young man stood up, examining his human form. He turned to the fairy.
“Thank you,” he said sincerely.
“You were stuck that way because of me,” the fairy replied. “It was the least I could do.”
“Carlos, get over here now!” Cruella shouted.
“No,” Carlos answered. Cruella looked taken aback.
“No? Don’t you want to be Mummy’s obedient dog?”
Carlos leveled a cold glare at the woman. “I’m not your dog anymore, Mother.”
Cruella huffed. “You’ve made your decision, have you? Fine. It’s a good thing you aren’t the only dog in this castle.” Cruella whistled to call some of her other dogs to her side. A German shepherd, a Rottweiler, a bulldog, and a Dalmatian came running into the room and started growling at the group. Before the dogs could lunge, Carlos exhaled a green smoke. It looked similar to the kind his mother used to control him. As the dogs inhaled the smoke, they stopped growling and lay down.
“How do you know how to do that?!” Cruella cried.
Carlos shrugged. “It wasn't very difficult to figure out.”
”What is happening?” Malachara asked. This situation quickly got wildly out of hand, and she could only stand and watch as mother and son fought for control.
“You,” Cruella growled. She reached into her fur coat and pulled out a smaller, more square version of the kind of weapons pirates used. The pistol was covered in jewels, and Cruella pointed it directly at Carlos’s head. “You ungrateful, insolent little brat! I should've left you in the woods to die the moment you were born! You have been nothing but a nuisance and a burden your whole life!”
Carlos’s face fell at his mother’s words. There was no more doubt in any of their minds at this point. Cruella was pure evil, and Malachara would make sure that she paid for her sins. She felt her hand heat up. Then breaking glass. Then Cruella slumped to the floor to reveal Jaheim behind her with a broken bottle.
“When did you get back there?” Evelyn cried.
“I'll explain later. Now, we have to go!”
Without a second thought, the five of them ran from the castle, desperate to escape before Cruella could wake up.
Regina wiped her dust-covered hand off on her coat as she walked through the topiary to her home. She’d had to discard her gloves in her vault thanks to her fight with Emma Swan earlier, so she had nothing to hide the remnants of Graham’s crushed heart that remained on her hands. She supposed dust was more likely to be found on her than blood after visiting her father’s crypt. Hopefully, her children wouldn’t become too suspicious.
She wiped at her tears as she walked. She hadn’t wanted to kill Graham, but he was starting to remember, and that was dangerous. Besides, a queen always made good on her threats. She could hear her mother’s voice in the back of her mind saying those words to her. It helped to imagine how her heartless mother would react whenever she committed such dark deeds.
Regina heard a car pull up behind her. She turned and saw Damien Ember, the proprietor of the cemetery and funeral home, step out of his car and run up the path towards her.
“Mr. Ember, is everything alright?” she asked, but Damien ran past her into the house. Then, Regina heard sirens as an ambulance drove up the street. Something was wrong, and she needed to figure out what it was. She ran inside, seeing Henry standing in the foyer as Damien ran into the kitchen. Her maternal instincts kicked in at the sight of the tear tracks on her son’s face. “Henry, what happened?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Mal just collapsed out of nowhere. Evie told me to wait out here for the paramedics.”
“They’re outside. Where’s your sister?”
“She’s in the kitchen with Mal.”
“Okay. I’ll be in there if you need me.”
Regina made her way into her kitchen and took in the scene before her. Mal was sitting on the floor propped up against the kitchen island. She held a wet paper towel to her head with a sour expression. Her father sat next to her. Jay and Carlos stood off to the side. Those two could be squeamish at times when they weren’t the ones bleeding. Her daughter, Evelyn, was getting an ice pack from the freezer.
“Oh my god, Evie. I’m fine,” Mal said from the floor. “It's just a cut.”
“A cut you got by hitting the floor when you fainted out of nowhere!” Evelyn said as she exchanged Mal’s wet paper towel for the ice pack. She tossed the towel into the trash and began scrubbing her hands in the sink. “You’re lucky it wasn’t worse!”
“I’m glad you’re okay now, Mali,” Damien said, “but we need to get you checked out for a concussion.”
As if on cue, the paramedics came in and walked over to Mal. Henry trailed after them but stopped to watch from the doorway. Damien stood up to get out of the way when his phone started ringing. He headed into the other room. Evie walked over to her mother to explain the situation when she noticed her mother’s red, puffy eyes and split lip.
“Mom, are you okay?” she asked. “What happened? Why are you bleeding?”
“I'm fine,” her mother replied. “Visiting your grandfather's grave tends to remind me of how much I miss him. And the cut is from Miss Swan. What happened here?”
”I'm not sure. I went to grab the pizza from the delivery guy while Henry grabbed plates. Then I heard Henry yelling for help, so I ran into the kitchen and saw him crouched over Mal shaking her.”
”Henry was in here when she collapsed?”
”It really scared him. I’m just glad it’s over with and Mal’s okay. If something bad had happened, I don’t know how Henry would react.”
Damien came back into the kitchen still holding his phone. The man looked to be in shock, but there was something off about his demeanor. Something Regina couldn’t quite grasp.
“What is it?” Regina asked though she knew exactly what he was going to say.
“That was the medical examiner’s office,” he said. ”They just picked up a body from the Sheriff’s Station. Graham is dead.”
The room fell silent. Regina did her best to look shocked until Henry broke the silence and turned to her.
“You killed him,” he said.
“What?”
“You had his heart. He was starting to remember, and you killed him. You crushed his heart!” Henry’s eyes welled up with tears before he ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Regina tried to follow him, to tell him that this wasn’t her fault, even though she knew it was. Evie stopped her and shook her head. They both knew he wouldn’t listen to her in this state.
Evie looked at Jay. She knew he’d been somewhat close with the sheriff, as close as a sheriff and a repeat offender could be, but she knew the sorrow on his face had more to do with whatever he’d wanted to talk to Graham about this afternoon. She watched as he left through the front door and followed behind him. He leaned forward against one of the pillars when she got to the porch.
“Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not!” he snapped. “Not many people in this town believe in me, but he did! He thought I could be better! And now, he’s…” He trailed off. He took in a shaky breath as tears formed in his eyes. Evie saw her vision get blurry with tears of her own. Instead of speaking, she pulled Jay into a hug. There were no words that could heal the loss of someone who’d always been there.
Inside, Carlos stared blankly at the TV screen as he sat on the couch in the parlor. Their game was still paused from when Henry had yelled out about Mal. Before that happened, he’d been sure they were going to have a fun night. After learning about the sheriff’s death, well…he wasn’t sure how to feel.
Mal came in from the kitchen and sat beside Carlos, still holding the ice pack Evie gave her to the bump on her head.
“Shouldn’t you be resting?” he asked.
Mal shrugged. “The EMTs cleared me. No concussion. Just a cut on my head. How are you holding up?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t feel real. Part of me is hoping that it’s a stupid prank or something, that when I go to work tomorrow, he’ll be feeding the dogs or playing with Dude. But your dad doesn't joke around about stuff like that, so I know he's being serious.”
”I get it. Right now, it's hard to believe. It feels like he's always been here, and knowing that he won't be around anymore…” She started tearing up, “it's difficult.”
After talking with the paramedics, Regina walked into the parlor.
”I'm sorry to cut the party short,” Regina said, “but with everything that's happened tonight I don't think you three will be able to stay over. Your father has requested to take you home, Miss Ember, and I'll be driving Mr. Pelletier and Mr. Fadel back to their apartment.”
Carlos got up from the sofa and headed into the foyer as Damien came in.
“Stuff's all loaded up, Mali. You ready?” Mal nodded and wiped her eyes. She handed the ice pack to Regina and left. Regina went to put the ice pack back in the freezer when Damien spoke up again.
“How many is that now?”
“I'm sorry?” Regina asked, turning to face him.
”Your body count. It has to be somewhere in the thousands by now.”
Regina’s blood ran cold, but she kept her voice even and her face neutral.
“I'm sorry. I don't know what you're talking about.”
Damien stepped closer and lowered his voice.
“You know exactly what I'm talking about, Your Majesty.”
How did he know? How was he awake? Who was he? With four sentences, Damien Ember, or whoever he was, managed to completely throw her off balance. Before she could question him, he headed out to his car, leaving Regina in stunned silence.
Mal was already in the passenger seat when Damien got into the driver’s seat. He put the key into the ignition and started the car. He turned to look at his daughter and saw that her brows were scrunched together, and she was chewing on her lip like she always did when she was focused.
”Something bothering you, sweetheart?”
“It's probably nothing.”
“Try me.”
“Before I fainted, I saw something. Something I can't explain. I saw Regina in a dark room holding a glowing red object. Then I saw Graham in the Sheriff's Station with the deputy. Graham seized up and fell to the floor while Emma called out for him. Then I saw Regina again, but instead of the glowing red thing, she was letting dust or sand slip through her fingers.” She leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. “I'm probably imagining things, though.”
He knew exactly what she was talking about and she wasn’t imagining things. Mal had been receiving visions of death since she was a little girl, but because no one close to her had died in 28 years, she hadn’t had one for a long time.
Instead of explaining this to her, however, he decided to stay silent. Some part of her buried by the curse already knew about this. She would remember eventually. No need to confuse her. He put the car into drive.
“Probably.”
Jaheim, Evelyn, Malachara, and Carlos ran through the forest to their campsite. The sun was about to rise. Had they been in the castle all night? The fairy, Jubilance, had flown off as soon as they left the castle. She needed to check in with the other fairies. After running for what felt like miles, the four of them stopped to catch their breath.
“We should be getting close to our campsite,” Evelyn panted.
“We’ll have to pack up quickly,” Jaheim said, walking again. “If she’s awake, she’ll be sending her dogs after us.”
“While we’re doing that,” Malachara said with a smug grin, “you might as well pay up what you owe me, Jaheim.”
“What? What for?”
“I said you would have to give me five gold pieces if Carlos turned out to actually be a person, and he is, so pay up.”
“I didn’t think you were serious.”
“I'm always serious when it comes to gold.”
“As am I!” a third voice said as they approached the campsite. Or rather, what used to be their campsite. All of Evelyn, Malachara, and Jaheim’s belongings were packed up and stacked near where the firepit was the day before. On one of the overturned logs sat Rumplestiltskin. “Though, I'm more partial to making gold than collecting it.”
“Who is this strange lizard man?” Carlos asked after recovering from the shock. The Dark One got up from his seat and bowed with a flourish.
“Rumplestiltskin. I hope you don't mind. I took the liberty of packing your things. If you're not gone by the time Cruella's dogs get here,” he let out one of his menacing giggles, “let's just say things will get a bit messy.”
“As promised,” Malachara said as she reached into her satchel. She pulled out the diamond and tossed it to Rumplestiltskin, who caught it with ease.
“Excellent work, dearie. You held up your end of the deal. Now you shall have what was promised to you.” The Dark One waved his hand. Malachara felt her satchel get slightly heavier as something appeared inside. She reached in and pulled out the ember she’d given to him before this all began.
“So?” she asked. “What’s his name?”
“Funny you should ask that. You see, no one really knows his true name, at least, no one mortal. But you might know him by one name: Hades.”
“Hades?” Evelyn said in disbelief. “As in 'god of the Underworld' Hades?”
”I don't think you know of any other beings named Hades. Not much time for idle chatter, though. You'll need to be airborne soon if you don't want Cruella following you.”
“Right,” Malachara said, turning to Jaheim and Carlos. ”You might wanna back up.”
They did as they were told, backing away from the young sorceress as her eyes glowed green and her body was enveloped in purple smoke. As the smoke grew and eventually dissipated, Jaheim and Carlos stood in awe of the terrifying dragon their new friend had become. And as she crouched low to the ground, Jaheim was hit with a realization.
“I shouldn't have taken that bet,” he sighed.
”No,” Evelyn laughed, “you really shouldn't have.” The remaining three grabbed their things and hopped onto the back of the dragon. “Hold on tight!” she shouted back at the boys before turning to Malachara’s head. “Let's go!” The dragoness roared and flapped her wings before taking off into the sky. As he watched the Misfits fade into the distance, Rumplestiltskin took comfort in the fact that his son would soon be on the road to True Love and happiness, even if Benedict didn’t know it yet.
Here lies Graham Humbert.
Beloved Sheriff and Cherished Friend.
Jay stood at the foot of Graham’s grave on the Friday after the sheriff’s death. It was late in the morning. While he would’ve normally been at school at this time, the district had canceled classes in light of the tragedy that befell their sleepy little town. The funeral had ended nearly half an hour ago, and everyone else had gone to Granny’s for the wake, but Jay decided to stay behind to pay his respects. The beanie that often adorned his head was gone, and his hair was tied back in a bun. The black clothes he was wearing weren’t nice by most people’s standards, but they were all he had. He’d never expected to attend a funeral.
He heard leaves crunch behind him, but he didn’t turn to see who it was. Al had stayed behind to keep an eye on him. He knew that Jay was having a difficult time, especially after seeing the teen snap at Will and call him heartless over his supposed indifference to the sheriff’s death. The older man wrapped an arm around Jay’s shoulder.
“You alright, Jay?” he asked softly.
“What do you think?” Jay replied.
“What's on your mind?”
“Why did you take me in?”
“What d’you mean?”
“After my dad left, you were barely making enough to support yourself, let alone a seven-year-old kid you hardly knew. Why would you make your life harder for my sake?”
“‘Cause I saw myself in you. I know what it’s like to grow up alone, havin’ to fend for yourself when no one else will. You’re a good kid, Jay. I didn’t want that for you. Havin’ someone in your corner can make a world of difference. You’ve got more people lookin’ out for you than you realize. Graham was one of ‘em. He wanted you to be more than a street rat.”
“I know. But I don’t think that’s in the cards for me. I just kind of wish I knew what he was going to give me.” Leaves crunched behind them. They should’ve been alone, but they turned around to see current Deputy and Acting Sheriff Emma Swan walking up.
“Hey, Jay,” she said. “Can I talk to you?”
Al took that as his cue to leave. He pat Jay on the shoulder and told him, “I’ll be at Granny’s,” and walked away. Emma took Al’s place beside Jay at the foot of Graham’s grave. They stood in silence for a while. Jay heard Emma sniffling beside him, but he decided not to comment on it. Or the fact that he saw her wiping her tears away.
“How’re you holding up?” she asked.
“Fine, I guess,” he said. He turned his head to the blonde woman. “What about you? I heard you were with him when he died.” Jay watched as tears crept back into her eyes and snuck into her voice.
“I was. And it was terrifying, but I’ll be okay.”
“I can’t believe he’s gone. He’s been the sheriff for as long as I can remember. I can’t imagine anyone else doing as good of a job as him.”
“He took the job very seriously. I could tell when I was cleaning out his desk. Especially when I found this.” Emma reached into her leather jacket, pulled out an unsealed envelope, and handed it to Jay.
“What is it?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say it was the thing he wanted to give you.” Jay opened the envelope, took out a piece of paper, and unfolded it. He read the document to himself.
To Michael Tillman:
I am honored to recommend Jay Fadel for the position of Mechanic at Marine Garage. I have known Jay for many years, and I believe he would be a great addition to your staff.
Though Jay has a reputation for being a troublemaker and a thief, I believe that he has the potential to be much more. He is driven, hard-working, and compassionate. Jay has expressed to me his desire to be better, and I believe he can be if you are willing to give him a chance.
If you have any other questions about Jay, you can contact me or Deputy Swan at the Sheriff's Station, and we will happily answer them. I look forward to hearing from you, and I hope you give Jay the chance he deserves.
Respectfully,
Sheriff Graham Humbert
In black ink, above his printed name, Graham has signed the document, ensuring its authenticity, even after his death. Jay looked up at Emma in shock.
“Is this…?” he asked. Emma nodded.
“It's a letter of recommendation from Graham. I put my contact info in there as well since Graham can't be contacted anymore.”
“You would vouch for me?”
“If it keeps you out of juvie, I'd be happy to.”
“Why?”
“After I got out of the foster system, I did my fair share of illegal activities. Eventually, the consequences of my actions caught up with me, and I got in trouble. I didn't have anyone in my corner looking out for me. Now that I'm in a better place, I want to make sure you've got people in your corner. I would've given anything for someone to give me a chance like Graham wanted to for you. You, Mal, Carlos, Evie. You're all good kids. Storybrooke might have trouble seeing that, but you are. Henry said he brought me here to bring back the happy endings. Maybe that's his way of saying that you needed someone to set you on the right track.”
Jay was speechless. No one reputable in Storybrooke had ever vouched for him like Emma was offering to. He had no idea what to say, so he said the first thing on his mind.
“Thank you.”
Emma smiled. “C'mon. I heard Granny's gonna be serving her famous lasagna.” The two of them began walking back when Emma noticed something at Jay’s feet. “Hang on, I think you dropped something.”She bent down and picked up an old brooch with a golden viper on the front. She held it out for Jay to examine. “Is it yours?”
Jay furrowed his brow. “I don't know. I've never seen it before, but it seems familiar.” He took the brooch and began fiddling with it involuntarily. He twirled it between his fingers in a way that felt…natural. Like muscle memory took over for a second. He put the brooch in his pocket.
“It's mine now.”
The evening after their ragtag group escaped Cruella’s castle, Jaheim sat in front of the fire fiddling with his viper brooch as he watched Malachara put another log on the fire. She sat next to him and silently held out her hand. When he made no move to place something in her hand, she cleared her throat in an exaggerated manner. Jaheim sighed and pocketed his brooch. He took out his coin purse and placed five gold pieces into her hand.
”Thank you,” she said as she grabbed a box from her belongings and opened it. Jaheim saw the ember Rumplestiltskin had given back to her that morning, a necklace, and a tiara as well as several other gold coins. She added his five gold pieces to the pile and placed the nameplate from Carlos’s destroyed collar in the box as well.
“You've been hounding me for five gold pieces all day when you have a box full of treasure?” Jaheim scoffed. “You aren't exactly strapped for coin by the looks of things. That tiara alone could easily go for 200 gold pieces at the market.”
”I wouldn't be much of a dragon if I didn't have a hoard. And the tiara isn't mine. It's Evie's.”
“Why is Evie's tiara in your box of shiny things?”
”She asked me to hold onto it, to keep it safe. She said, 'If you want to keep your treasure safe, give it to a dragon, especially one you trust.'”
“Well, if you give me back my five gold pieces,” Jaheim said, reaching into his pocket, “I’ll let you put this in your box.” He held up his golden viper brooch and watched as her eyes narrowed with curiosity.
“Tell me how you got it, and I will.”
”It was given to me by a princess.”
”You expect me to believe that?”
“It’s the truth. Before my father tried to take over Agrabah, he was the advisor to the Sultan. After the first time he was defeated, he fled into the desert, leaving me in the palace alone. My father had the Sultan enthralled, but his daughter, the princess, convinced the freed Sultan to take me in as their ward. The princess gave me this brooch and said ‘Jaheim ibn Jafar, as long as you have this brooch, someone is looking out for you.’ It’s the only thing I kept when I ran away.”
”If it’s so special, why give it to me?”
“Sometimes I’m afraid of losing it. If I give it to you, I won’t have to worry about it.”
“How do you know you can trust me?”
He shrugged. “If Evie trusts you enough to give you her tiara, that has to count for something.”
Jaheim could tell that the sorceress was genuinely touched by his display of trust, even though she tried her best not to show it outwardly. She silently handed him his five gold pieces as he gave her the brooch. She placed the brooch at the top of her pile and shut the lid. Safe and sound.
Soon after, Evelyn and Carlos came back from hunting, and they ate dinner, speaking excitedly around the campfire.
“I am never taking opposable thumbs for granted again,” Carlos said, using his hands to eat for the first time in a while instead of being limited to the use of his mouth. Though his time as the wolf had taken its toll on his manners as he scarfed down his dinner, his new friends didn’t seem to mind.
“I’m so glad I’ve never had that problem,” Malachara said.
“I’m sorry,” Evelyn teased. “How long did it take you to figure out how to hunt using magic, again?”
“Shut up!” Malachara said back playfully. She threw one of the cleaned pheasant bones at the former princess, who ducked out of the way and scoffed indignantly as it flew past her head. “I was operating on instinct. Dragons tend to push their young out of the nest and hope they fly. It never occurred to me to use my magic.”
Jaheim looked at Carlos. “How long were you stuck as a wolf?” he asked.
“Oh, um…I-I don't know,” he stammered. It was a lie. He knew how many full moons had passed while he was stuck as the wolf, and it added up to somewhere around two years. He didn’t want his new friends to know that, though. He didn’t want them to look at him with pity, to see him as weak.
“Were you the last person who tried to free the fairy?” Jaheim asked.
“How do you know that?”
“The fairy. She said that the last person who tried to free her got caught by Cruella, and it didn't end well for him.”
“Yeah…” Carlos admitted. “...that's how I ended up as the guard dog. It was my punishment.” Before he could get lost in his painful memories, the deafening silence of the group pulled him back to the surface. Their pitying looks made him feel small. He needed to show them that he wasn’t weak. “But it's fine. I'm not stuck like that anymore, and, thanks to you guys, I'm free.”
His attempt at pivoting the conversation away from touchy subjects fell flat. Malachara seemed to notice his growing anxiety because she spoke up soon after.
“Way to bring the mood down, Jay.”
“Jay?” the thief said. “Is that the nickname you two landed on? Gotta say, I thought you'd be a bit more creative than calling me by the first letter of my name.”
“What? Do you not like it?” Evelyn teased.
“I didn't say that.”
“Good, because you're stuck with it,” Malachara added. “That's the price of sticking with us.”
Evelyn turned to Carlos. “You're welcome to travel with us too, Carlos. You'd fit right in.”
“I would?”
“Yeah!” Jaheim, or Jay, rather, said. “Your mother is definitely evil, and we all have an evil parent. For me, it's my father, a sorcerer named Jafar.”
“My mother is the Evil Queen,” Evelyn–Evie–explained.
“And my mother is Maleficent,” Mal finished.
“Maybe it was Fate that brought us together,” Evie mused.
“Or Rumplestiltskin,” Mal joked. “But the offer still stands. Wanna join our motley crew?”
Carlos smiled. He should warn them. About what he was. About his lack of control. About what happens to him when the moon is full and what he could accidentally do to them. But he didn’t want to ruin a good thing before it began. He would tell them eventually. It was a new moon tonight. He had two weeks to figure out how.
“Yeah. Why not?”
Jay walked up to the open garage door of Marine Garage. Michael Tillman, the owner, was working on a car. He can’t remember the last time he was this nervous, but this conversation could make or break his future in Storybrooke. Even with Graham’s letter, there was no guarantee that Mr. Tillman would want to hire him. He took a deep breath.
“Excuse me,” Jay said. The mechanic looked up from the car he was working on. He wiped his hands clean with his oil rag and threw the rag over his shoulder.
“Is there something I can help you with?” he asked. Now or never.
“Yeah. I'd like to apply for a job.” Mr. Tillman sighed.
“Kid, I–”
“Before you say no,” Jay interrupted, “I want you to read this.” He took the letter out of his jacket pocket and held it out for the mechanic to take. He took it without complaint and opened it.
“What is it?” the man asked.
“It's a letter of recommendation.”
Jay watched as Mr. Tillman read the letter with a furrowed brow that softened when he got to the last few lines. He looked up at Jay.
“This is legit?”
“You can ask the deputy about it. She's the one who found it.”
Jay let Mr. Tillman think for a bit before he watched the man fold the letter back up, put it back into the envelope, and put the envelope in his back pocket.
“When can you start?”
Mr. Tillman may not have realized it, but those four words filled Jay with something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Hope. Hope for the future.