The Dragon Swan

Chapter 3: Of Hatters and Curses

As the group gathered around the globe, they all looked at the location revealed with puzzled looks on their faces.

"Where is that?" Henry asked the group.

Emma growled. "I don't know." she said grudgingly. She turned to her husband and asked "Do you recognize it?" She hoped he did but that hope faded as he shook his head sadly. "No, I do not." Rumpel told her with sadness clear in his eyes and voice as well as his heart. Then his eyes widened as a thought occurred to him. "What of the Hatter?" he asked her.

Emma looked at him curiously. "Jefferson?" she pondered before thinking on it. Jefferson - also known as the Mad Hatter - was considered by many (Rumpel and Emma among them) to be the best Realm Traveller of them all. If any one knew this realm it would be him. "Call him and get him here, immediately!" she demanded.

Nodding, Rumpelstiltskin took out his phone and called the number and putting it on speaker so that the others could hear.

"What do you want?" Jefferson said in a form of greeting.

Rumpel snorted. "Why, hello Jefferson. It's good to hear from you too." he said with a smirk. "As it happens, Dearie, my wife and I need your help with something."

"Can it wait, Gold?" the Mad Hatter asked in a tone suggesting he wasn't interested. "I promised Grace that I was going to spend the day with her." he told his old employer as he was currently having a tea party with his daughter.

Emma spoke up, as always annoyed with the Hatter. "Unfortunately this can't wait." she waved her hand and suddenly Jefferson and Grace appeared in the shop in plumes of gold smoke. The two fell to the floor as they'd obviously been sitting down on chairs before being poofed. Henry and Alice immediately went to help their friend, Grace to her feet while Kilian and Neal went to help Jefferson, only for him to bat them away as he got to his feet himself.

The Hatter glared at the Dark One and the Dragon Witch - he'd known for years of Emma being Maleficent so he wasn't all that surprised to see her. "What the hell do you think your doing?!" he demanded angrily, he always hated when someone would teleport him around.

Emma just stared at Jefferson. "We need your help." she told him simply. She and Jefferson never really got along. It wasn't anything personal for either of them. They just both had very bad first meetings with each other. For Emma, it was the fact that he'd kidnapped her and Henry in order to force her to break the curse so he could be reunited with his daughter. For Jefferson, it was because he'd first met her when she and Rumpel were on a date, and he'd thought she was a random woman trying to pay off a debt in a more fun way. Jefferson had then made the mistake of asking if he could have a go with her next. Emma had responded by hitting him very hard between the legs with forcful blast of magic.

It was only because she knew Grace was one of Henry's best friends that she hadn't hit him with a fireball.

Jefferson glared at her. "Yes, and I asked 'Can it wait?'" he reminded them. "Better question, why should I do anything for you?" he asked her specifically.

Emma swallowed her pride. "Because you are the only one who can help Rumpel and I find our daughter." she told him, almost coming close to begging.

The Hatter looked at them confused. He hadn't heard about them having a kid recently or even expecting one. He was sure it would've been the talk of the town if they were. "When did you two have another kid?" he asked them disbelievingly.

Rumpel nodded. "Yes, Dearie. She was born in the Enchanted Forest, before the Curse was cast." he revealed. What followed was he and Emma taking turns in explaining the circumstances that led to their daughter being taken - by Snow and Charming of all people - as well as what they'd said to Emma and then what they'd actually done to the child. Jefferson knew that, despite his feelings against Emma/Maleficent, not even she deserved for her own parents to kidnap her child and then tell her that she didn't deserve to be a mother. He knew that would've been utterly soul-crushing, especially for someone so utterly devoted to her family as Emma was.