Ouat
Season 1, Episodes 8 & 11
Desperate Souls, Fruit of the Poisonous Tree
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Richard Gold appeared in the doorway of the Sheffield's office, donning one of his signature suits. "The Sheriff's jacket. I thought you might want it after all," he says, giving Emma a great fright. "You do know I'm armed, right?" She says, her words threatening but she wore an almost joking smile on her face.
Richard gives out his own grin, walking into the office. "So part of the act, my dear." He spoke. "Political theater in an actual theater. I knew no one was going to vote for you unless we gave you some kind of extraordinary quality. And I'm afraid saving old Regina's ass from the fire just wasn't gonna do now. We had to give you a higher form of bravery. They had to see you defy me. And they did." Emma's face contorted to one of shake and confusion.
"No way. There's no way you planned that." She said, crossing her arms over her stomach. The thought of him knowing her so well without even knowing her beyond pleasantries was greatly unsettling."Everyone's afraid of Regina. But they are more afraid of me. By standing up to me, you won them over. It was the only way." Richard wore a small smug smirk as he spoke. He knew how this would end the moment he offered his assistance. He could read people like a dime, and people like Emma always do as he predicts.
"You knew I'd agree," Emma says in disbelief, watching Richard cautiously. "Oh, yeah." He nods, "I know how to recognize a desperate soul." Both adults are quiet for a moment, Emma thinking over what had happened. "Why did you do it?" She questioned. Richard started to walk, pausing to look at Emma. "We made a deal sometime back, Miss Swan. We established that you owed me and Peter a favor. I know that can be a bad feeling - owing people. Now that you're sheriff, I'm sure we'll find some way for you to pay back what you owe us. Congratulations." He uttered, walking out of the sheriff's office to go and visit his husband in the hospital.
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Lilly's POV:
I was laying in my hospital bed, watching as Regina was struggling to manage a call while opening the door. I sighed, waiting for her to finish with her conversation. Regina had informed me she would be coming into the hospital because she wanted to discuss something. As she finally hung up, I looked her over. She was wearing her signature gray and purple pantsuit, her bobbed hair curled at the ends and her black business heels making clacks as she walked over to the bed. She looked me over too, obviously wanting to make some kind of comment when she saw my nub. She refrained, however, knowing it wasn't the best idea to insult someone you were asking for help.
"Hello Regina," I said, leaning the bed forwards so that she could get a better look at my face. She sighed, heading to sit down by the chair next to the bed. Richard was a frequent visitor of that chair, often bribing the hospital staff to let him stay the night. "Nice to see you, Lilly," she said slowly, allowing herself to get used to the fact that she was asking favors from a hospitalized girl.
"I came over here today because I need you to commission something." She said, pulling out a few pieces of paper from out of a folder. "These are pictures from one of Henry's books. I was looking through it when I saw these drawings. They would make a nice play castle, don't you think?" She asked, handing the pictures over.
The pillars were grey, the tops a medium purple. There were four separate towers, each containing a different design. It was a magnificent drawing, one that definitely shouldn't be in a kids' book. This should have been in an art gallery, "Yes, these are lovely." I said, never taking my eyes off of the pages.
"Yes, well, the only problem is that the pictures only show the front. It would be hard to make this play castle as glorious as it is in the book if it's all plain on the sides and back. So, what I would really be asking is if you can illustrate the sides and back for the castle. I'll pay you $300 for every page, $80 to cover any supplies you might buy."
This made my mouth drop. I would probably need a full page to illustrate one side, as to capture every detail. She would probably pay me around $4,880 for this project, on top of all the costs it would take to draw up blueprints and build the castle. "Of course I can," I kept my voice as calm and leveled as I could. Usually, people weren't even willing to pay me $300, which is the starting price for my commissioned works.
Regina was the Mayor however, she would only want the very best for the town. And she had a lot of money she could spare, this project would probably be written off her taxes as a work expense."Now, I suppose an agreement has been struck. I have to go now, but I'll1 see you later." She says, getting up and walking out the door without a second thought or hesitation. "Goodbye," I uttered, rolling my eyes as she left.
Regina and I didn't have the same relationship as the others. She asks me to do small projects, ones that don't even cost about $500 and we go on our merry way. The most recent one she asked me and sapphire to commission is a book for Henry. It was a retelling of sleeping beauty. Prince Philip had been the one cursed with a sleeping spell, and Aurora was the one fighting the dragon to get to him. She woke him up by placing a sacred rose petal on his heart. It was inspired by the stories he had been telling us. I don't think she was happy with it, because she asked for a refund.
We told her books were non refundable. They cost time and effort, using up Sapphire inspiration, and my illustrations. They were something that came from our hearts, that's something you could never give away for free.
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Michael's POV:
I was laying in the hospital bed, awaiting Richard's return. He had gone somewhere on business; the night dark as he claimed his client requested secrecy. I wanted to just cuddle, to forget the problems stemming from my removed foot, however, I was stuck in this god forsaken hospital. The beds were far too small to fit the both of us. Medical bills would be nothing to us, Richard was very rich on his own, and my father left all his money and property to me after he passed. That was probably the only thing he was good for.
I was more concerned with everything else. The lack of being able to walk, even if everyone else had two working feet in the headspace. Ian was the most concerning to me, shutting people out for days since we woke up after the surgery. The only thing he said to us was that he's sorry he destroyed the body. I hadn't been able to see everyone when I wasn't fronting, some of the others had decided to go on a road trip.
It was very random, especially after the body's foot was chopped off. I think they didn't want to be around the rest of us, to have to endure our moods. They were coming back soon though, it was almost time for our once a year get together. We would all gather in the designated host's house and throw a huge party. This year was Katrine's turn, she was going to throw a ball.
I was taken out of my thoughts by the door opening, the sound of Richard's cane hitting my ears before I could see him. As I glanced over his figure, I wondered where he had been. He had traded out one of his signature suits for something of a fancier design. His shoes were of the ones he had bought for when he was going to take me out on one of our fancier dates, often renting out the more luscious places in Storybrooke.
He hadn't gone to a fancy place though, his hair gave that away. It had dirt in it, the kind that you only got from the woods. Peter had noticed it as a child, the dirt around Storybrooke's trees was thinner than the dirt in the forest. The dirt in his hair was thicker, yet only a small patch that wasn't very noticeable to the eyes of people who were too scared to truly look at Richard for too long.
"What were you doing in the woods, babe?" I asked, giving a little giggle as he moved to sit down in the chair beside the bed I was occupying. He leaned back, moving his hair out of his face as he said, "Well, Regina wanted to buy some land. Asked me to be very discreet about it."
I was shocked, Regina had been indescribably against asking Richard for help, only breaking her prejudice against him to ask for help with adoption, resulting in little Henry being brought into our lives. "The big bad ruler of Storybrooke, Regina, asked to purchase some land? Land owned by you and not land owned by Carl?" Carl was the only other person to own a significant amount of land. Of course a few others who were well off owned land, but it was only the property they built their houses on. His land was also closer to Storybrooke, the land Richard owned that wasn't occupied by buildings was further into the woods.
"Perhaps she needs to build something more covert, something hidden from the eyes of Storybrooke." Richard tried, he was talking in the tone he had never used before Emma Swan came to town. It was strange how he had changed, but stayed so similar at the same time. We were silently documenting everything, waiting to see any hint of what had happened before asking. He didn't like to talk about things before he was ready.
"The only project I know she's constructing is a play house." I said, trying to shake any thoughts of Richard's behavioral changes out of my head. I needed to focus on our recovery, and starting what might become a fight with my husband would prohibit any short term progress for my mental recovery. I grabbed a tissue from the nightstand, using it to rub the dirt out of Richard's hair.
"Really?" He questioned as his eyes traced around my face, sounding more interested at the thought of Regina building things for kids. She was Henry's mother, yes, but she had almost no idea what children were interested in. When Henry was four she got him a rake for Christmas so he could help her with gardening. "She's having Lilly commission some 3D versions of what she wants so there can be an accurate blueprint. I think she might have stolen the idea from one of Henry's books." I leaned into the bed, wishing it was bigger. I would love to snuggle up against Richard's side right now.
I opened my mouth, about to tell him that the play house looked like a castle when a horrible, yet faint pain flared up in my foot. It wasn't in the foot I still had though, it was coming from where my amputated foot had been. I let out a sound of pain, lightly massaging my nub. It had been happening ever since we woke up after surgery, being told that we might get phantom pain by Dr. Lynn, who is the only doctor in the hospital to specialize in podiatrist surgery.
Richard sighed, moving the chair closer to the edge of the bed. He slowly began to rub my nub, being careful not to agitate the almost healed scar. We had been doing this same thing for 4 weeks. We would be able to leave in a couple of days, but Dr. Susana told us that she would like us to think about getting a prosthetic foot, she was a prosthetist that I had talked to a few days ago. I was unsure about it, sure the body would be able to walk again, but we could only wear it for 2-4 hours maximum, plus all the time it would take for everyone to learn how to use the leg. It was a huge commitment to make, and I wanted to talk to the entire system before we made a decision.
"How would you feel if I told you that I'm not too sure about getting a prosthetic foot," are the words that come tumbling out of my mouth. It hadn't been the most graceful approach to this conversation, but the look on Richard's face told me all I needed to know. "Well, I'd say that you don't need to get this foot if you're not ready for it, Michael. If you're scared about the commitment, you should ask the system. This isn't a step you need to take alone, me and the rest of you all will be by your side the entire way." And as we sat, Richard massaging where my leg had once met my ankle, I knew I had married the right guy.
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Katrine POV:
Henry and I were sitting in the hospital, I was sipping on a cup of coffee, and Henry was writing down his stories. He had lost his book and was trying to write everything he remembered. He had told me that if it was lost, Emma would never believe in magic. As he was getting to the part where Cinderella lost her slipper, a man approached.
"Hey, Peter," he said as I looked up at him. It was August, a man Ian had met him on a dating app. "It's Katrine. I haven't heard from you in a while though, why didn't you tell us you were coming?" I asked as he leaned down to hug me. "Well, I was always going to pass through. Richard told me what happened and I just had to come to check on you." He said, leaning up to get a better look at me.
"Thanks," I said, moving the bed to bring me to a better sitting position. "Gonna have to talk to you later though, it's almost time for his mom to collect him so they can make it to bus." I nodded my head at Henry, who was still vigorously writing stories. "What are you working on?" August questioned, trying to get a look at what Henry was writing. "No time to talk. I have to write it all down before I forget." Henry responded, taking a glance at the man.
"Yeah, I hate it when great ideas slip away from me." He says, obviously thinking about the stories he's written. He'd written Ian a few when he needed to take a break from the stories he was writing. "They're not my ideas. They're stories from a book that I lost." Henry countered, not even pausing in writing for a second. August sat down on the other side of Henry. "Must be a hell of a book. What's it about?" He was obviously trying to bond, and I let him. Henry needed more friends, I just wish they weren't all adults. The kids at school were all too scared to get involved with him because his mom was the mayor. Henry believed it was his fault; I had tried to discourage the thought from his head but he never fully believed me.
"Stuff," Henry said. "Sounds exciting." August replies. Henry turns to look at August, a hint of accusation in his tone. "You seem awfully interested in me and my book." August turned his body so that he was fully facing Henry, "No, I'm just being neighborly."
"What are you going to do in Storybrooke?" Henry questioned, looking August straight in the eyes. "I'm a writer," August replied, keeping his answer short. I let Henry have his little interrogation time, I knew August could take it. "You can write anywhere. What are you really doing here?" Henry subtly demanded, I would have to teach him about demanding things later.
"Stuff," August says, using Henry's own words against him. "Good luck with the stories. I'll catch you later, Katrine." He stood up and walked out of the diner, leaving us to our own devices. I took a sip of my coffee, allowing myself to savor the flavors on my tongue. "How did you know him?" Henry asked, beginning to pack his stuff into his bag so we could head to the bus stop. "Ian met him through a dating app he was using for fun. Got to talking and next thing you know, he's writing me short stories about the places he's been. Haven't talked to him in a while though, with all the stuff that's been happening here." I gestured to my missing foot, the thing keeping me in this wheelchair.
"I'm super sorry about your foot," Henry said, a guilty expression on his face. The boy had been apologizing to me at every chance he could. "Don't be, Ian went in after you because he wanted to, there is nothing that we would have changed if it meant you'd be safe. Now, stop with the pouting, you moms gone be here any moment to bring you to the bus so you're not late." And with that Regina entered the room, gesturing for Henry to come along .
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Richard was sitting in the town hall, his designated spot right in front of Regina's stand. Richard didn't usually come to these meetings, he was often way busy. But Regina had asked him to come, she said that she would be displaying some work done by Lilly and that he needed to be here in case any design questions were brought to someone's concern. "This session of the Storybrooke City Council will come to order. We will begin by reading the minutes from our last meeting." Regina says after hitting her gavel to bring the council to order.
Sidney Glass stands up from near the back of the room, bringing attention to his words. "Uh, excuse me, um, Madam Mayor. I have something I'd like to bring to the council's attention." He claimed, his silent ask of permission being heard by everyone in the room. "This is not an open forum, Sidney." Regina rejects, causing others to look back at him for a second. "And no one on this council's interested in hearing the boozy complaints of a disgraced reporter. Now sit down."
"He's not the only one who has something to say." Emma swan says, popping up from her seat next to Sidney. Grabbing the files he was holding in his hands, she makes her way out of the pews. "Miss Swan, this meeting is to discuss issues facing Storybrooke. "Miss Swan, this meeting is to discuss issues facing Storybrooke," Regina says, trying to calm the situation. Emma however, feels a different way. If the council was all riled up, her accusations would be better received. "Like the Mayor stealing thousands of dollars from the city to build herself a second home?" She accuses, causing the entire room to erupt in shocked gasps.
Regina bangs her gavel again, trying to silence the other council members. She had no idea what Emma was talking about, there had only been one construction plan and it certainly wasn't for a new house. Richard was very amused, a bit joyful of the fact that Emma might make a fool of herself today. She was going to embarrass herself for sure if she was going where he thought she was going. "Miss Swan, you will sit down immediately or so help
me—" The Mayor threatened, her face as straight as it could be.
"What? You'll punish me? You'll bully me like everyone else in this town? No. Not today." Her tone was brazen and defiant like she was unearthing a huge wrongdoing. Richard would have told her what actually was going on, but he was too far away to be heard if he whispered and quite frankly, this would make for great entertainment when the real story was unearthed. The council meetings were far too boring for his tastes, always drawling on about traffic control and budget cuts. Emma turned around to face the council members, holding some construction plans in her hand.
The pictures were of a small castle, complete with in depth pictures of design details. "In this hand, I am holding documents proving that this woman, your mayor, embezzled thousands of funds from the city, your tax money, to build herself a lavish home in the woods." She paused, allowing the council to react in hushed murmurs. "And this disgraced reporter – you want to know why he was really fired? Because he stood up to her. Because he questioned her. We all know what happens to people who question the Mayor." Emma rushed out, turning around to address Regina face to face. "You claim that you act in the best interest of all of us, but that isn't the truth, is it? The truth is, you are a thug that doesn't care about anyone or anything but yourself. That is who you really are. And it is time for the people of Storybrooke to know that."
Regina was sitting perfectly still, her face holding a certain amount of smugness to it as Emma's speech came to a close. "You're right, Miss Swan. I am building a house." She paused for a second, taking time to admire the confused look on Emma's face, she surely hadn't anticipated Regina admitting to her embezzlement. She stood up, leaning her hand on her desk. "A play house."
She took a small remote out of her pocket, allowing the projector to turn to the pictures Lilly had drawn. They were elegant, every single detail was highlighted. "The accusations are true. I did take city funds. I wanted to build a playground so my son Henry and all the children of Storybrooke could have a special place to play. Safely." The look on Emma's face deepened into an embarrassed expression with every word out of Regina's mouth. Regina was making a jab at her for letting Henry play at the castle, that had a cracked cranium after a storm hit Storybrooke earlier in the week.
"As for the sketch in your hands—it was inspired by a drawing in one of my son's books, commissioned by Miss Lilly Reid-Gold. So, there you have it. Miss Swan, you've exposed me for who I really am. I hope you're satisfied." Regina finished, a small tilt to her head giving just a hint of attitude to her words. "Now, let's proceed with the last session's minutes," Regina spoke as she headed back to her stand. Richard let out a quiet giggle, Emma had gone way too in over her head with trying to expose Regina. He would have to tell Peter and Ian everything when he goes to the hospital after the meeting was done.
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Peter's POV:
I was lying in the hospital bed, Richard sitting in the chair next to my bed. It was after 6, the pawn shop should have still been open but he closed it early so he could be with me. He was stroking my hair while looking through some documents, probably to finalize some of his land being bought by Regina. I didn't understand why she chose to buy land in the woods for a play castle, but Regina's thoughts were her own; I would rarely ever understand the full extent she would work on.
"Yesterday," Richard starts, pausing to be dramatic. He loved adding flare to the things he did and said. It was his entire thing, to be as dramatic as he could whenever he could. "Emma swan tried to accuse Regina of theft, and said that Regina was going to build a lavish home in the woods using tax money. And even stole the blueprints and the pictures Lilly drew." I sighed, allowing myself a moment to process the news. "Is the thought of winning against Regina blinding her common sense? If she even looked at the pictures she would notice that it was a castle." My question was rhetorical, she was even at the last council meeting where they voted on finding a way to build a new playground. I hadn't been since I was having surgery, but Richard told me the most important things that happened during the meeting. He was practically the biggest gossip in town.
"Even better of a laugh, she was getting help from Sidney Glass." My jaw dropped, laughing in disbelief as I heard the name of the man helping Emma. "Sidney Glass is nothing more than a sock puppet for Regina to control what the people know. She really got help from the man who almost beat her in the race for sheriff with nothing but the fact that Regina wanted him to win." Richard chuckled, a faint smile on his face. "He probably gave her a sob story, 'Regina ruined my life after the election."' I howled in laughter, my entire body shaking as I listened to Richard do a perfect impression of Sidney, a slight whine to his voice and everything.
We settled, our laughter fading as I began to think. I was going to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow, I had spent enough days learning how to optimize using a wheelchair and crutches to get around. Not a lot of Storybrooke was optimized for handicapped people, so my best options were the crutches, however, we did have an elevator in our home so I don't have to use crutches then. We had been having fun, I didn't want to turn the mood somber because I wanted to talk about my amputation.
Richard must have seen something on my mind however, as he questioned me. "Have you thought about the prosthetic yet?" I could tell he didn't want to push by the look on his face but he had asked anyway. He had a good reason though, appointments with a prosthetist had to be made and we had to discuss finances for all the services we were using. It wouldn't be simple, sure it would be easy with all the money we had but it would be time consuming and emotionally taxing. "We had multiple talks since I brought it up and we have decided to go through with it."
His face didn't change, he probably didn't want to show anything that would influence my decision down the line if I change my mind. "Well then, have you thought about doubling your therapy?" Was his follow up question, his tone quiet like any loud noises would send me into a fit of tears. I nodded, scared of making any noise myself. It was always a pattern whenever I was vulnerable, cowering away before coming forth with all my feelings in a bold rant. This time was no different.
"Yeah, I now have an extra appointment on Friday from 6:00 to 6:30. I have to find a new career path as well. I know that Lily and Sapphire want to write more books. They've already written so many books that they've never pitched to an agency because I was working, and they're really passionate about it." I loved working at the bakery, it had been something I did since I was old enough to be trusted with a stove.
There hadn't been anything I wanted to do more than bake; and I had turned my passion into a career. But I wouldn't be able to work at the bakery in a wheelchair or with crutches, and I refuse to live off of Richard's money, no matter how much he insists that he would be more than happy to let me. "What if I fix up the old library? It would benefit the kids and you know I do enjoy books. I'd have to do a lot of dusting and organizing, but I think I could make it work."
Richard smiled, gaining a look of adoration on his face. "I think that would be a great plan, how about we discuss this tomorrow and figure out specifics." He held my hand, looking as if he was willing all of his love into my being. I nodded, meeting him halfway for a loving kiss. We began to chat about the pawnshop and other dalidances around the town. The other civilians of Storybrooke would be besides themselves if they knew Richard was a huge gossip. A little later on a nurse came and told Richard that the hospital was closing. He nodded and gave me a kiss before he left.
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A/N: Sorry about the delay and the rushing at the end of the chapter. I started doing some of my summer work, and then I got the COVID vaccine which made me drowsy for a few days. And then I started writing a Vampire Diaries fanfic plus i started thinking about the direction I wanted to take this book for season 2. The next update is going to be sooner and hopefully better quality.
x Kaie