. . . . . ╰──╮✰ ✰ ✰ ╭──╯ . . . . .

‎‧₊˚✧ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛᴇᴇɴ✧˚₊‧

‎‧₊˚✧ᴍɪꜱꜱɪɴɢ ᴘɪᴇᴄᴇꜱ✧˚₊‧

______

"Revenge Is Like A Rolling Stone Which

When A Man Hath Forced Upon A Hill

Will Return Upon Him With A Greater Violence

And Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion."

______

Angie and Emma were seated in the sheriff's station with Mr. Gold a few days after their encounter with Jefferson. Angie had begun to trace her fingers across her coin with nervousness. Mary Margaret was pacing in her stall. Mr. Gold was explaining something to them but Emma quickly cut him off.

"A pretrial interview with the prosecution? Explain to me how that is a good idea."

"The D.A. merely wishes to ask Miss Blanchard a few questions," Mr. Gold assured Emma.

"She's done answering questions."

"And why the hell are we kissing up to the D.A.? Why aren't we going after Regina? She's behind this," Angie added.

"And what proof do we have of that, Deputy?" Mr. Gold questioned. "Just because you two found the mayor's skeleton key in the cell doesn't mean we can prove she put it there."

Emma sighed. "So what's your plan?"

Mr. Gold folded his hands on the table. "I believe our best chance of winning this case is to employ our most valuable asset."

Mary Margaret joined the conversation from her cell. "What's that?"

"Well that's you, dear. A sweet, kind elementary school teacher. Doesn't exactly fit the prototype of a killer, now does it?"

Emma raised her eyebrows. "That's how you're going to get her acquitted? By using her personality?"

"Perception is everything, Miss Swan—not just in the courtroom, but in life. As such, I'm sure you can imagine how the jury would perceive Miss Blanchard if she agreed to cooperate with the District Attorney. These things engender trust. It shows the jury she's at least trying–"

"Emma?" A voice called, cutting off Mr. Gold. Everyone looked up to see Sidney standing in the doorway, holding flowers. "Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt. I just, uh, came by to drop these off. I thought they might brighten the place up."

Emma quickly got up and brought him into the office. Mr. Gold, Mary Margaret, and Angie shared a look. Angie leaned back in her chair. "I know as much as you do. Either he's kissing up to her, collecting evidence, or crushing. Or all three, who knows?" Angie was reluctant to trust Sidney since her memories returned, reminding her that Sidney used to be the man in the Magic Mirror. It seemed as if he was done kissing up to Regina, but Angie still wasn't entirely fond of him.

Mary Margaret cocked her head at Angie. "You alright, Ange? You've been extra bitter the past few days."

Angie sighed. "I'm fine. I just...hate the fact that Regina is manipulating you. Manipulating everyone."

A few minutes later, Emma rejoined the group and Sidney left. The second Sidney was out of earshot, Mary Margaret spoke up. "I'm gonna do it. I'm going to talk to the D.A."

"Are you sure?" Emma questioned.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Angie told Mary Margaret.

Mary Margaret took a breath before admitting. "Mr. Gold's right. I know I have nothing to hide, but no one else does. I need to let people see me for who I am."

"Excellent decision, Miss Blanchard," a voice called from the door. Everyone looked up to see a man enter the room with Regina. "My name is Spencer. I'm the District Attorney. Shall we begin?"

Mary Margaret nodded. "Yeah."

–

"After she learned about your affair, Mrs. Nolan, the deceased, came to your school to confront you, is that correct?" Spencer asked. Mr. Gold was seated next to Mary Margaret while Regina was seated next to Spencer. Angie and Emma were leaning against the wall in the back of the room.

Mary Margaret took a second to answer. "She was hurt, and she felt betrayed."

"She struck you—In the face, was it?"

"Yes, but–"

"That must've made you angry."

Mr. Gold placed a hand on Mary Margaret's shoulder. "You don't have to answer that."

Mary Margaret gently wiggled out of his grip. "No, it's okay. I was not angry. I was sorry for all the pain I had caused her."

Spencer snorted, leading Angie to grow a little more suspicious of his intentions for this meeting. "Miss Blanchard, this is not a courtroom. I'm not here to judge you. You can be honest with me."

"Should we end this?" Mr. Gold questioned. Angie immediately nodded, as did Emma, but Mary Margaret kept talking.

"I am being honest with you"

"The wife of the man you loved humiliated you in a public forum; surely you must have felt some anger towards Kathryn."

Mary Margaret sighed lightly before answering again. "Yes, I was angry–"

"And did you ever think about acting upon that anger?" Spencer fired back instantly.

"Of course not," Mary Margaret retorted.

"I have a hard time believing that."

Mary Margaret looked back and forth between Spencer, Mr. Gold, and Angie. "Wh-why?"

"Because you wanted Kathryn Nolan gone."

"I never said that," Mary Margaret said loudly, starting to get offended.

Mr. Gold attempted to save the situation. "That's it. My client is answering no more questions for the day."

"Your client agreed to this interview because she claimed she had nothing to hide."

Mary Margaret argued back at him. "I don't have anything to hide!"

"Then what is your answer? You wanted Kathryn gone, didn't you?"

"No."

"Even after she tried to keep you and David apart? After she slapped you in public? After she made you a pariah in her own town?"

Mary Margaret had been pushed to sarcasm. "Yes, I wanted her gone, she was the only thing keeping us apart so yeah, I wanted her gone—is that what you wanna hear?"

Spencer smiled and Angie grimaced as Mary Margaret realized what just happened. Yes, Angie thought to herself. That's exactly what he wanted to hear.

–

Angie spent the rest of the afternoon going through Henry's storybook at Granny's. Her newly restored memory was a bit rusty, so she decided to try and get a refresher. She was hoping to find some history that she hadn't found already. Unfortunately, she couldn't find anything that she didn't know already. She was about halfway through the book when August came over to her. "Whatcha doin'?"

Angie sighed and shut the book. "Grasping at straws."

"Still trying to find a way to prove your friend's been framed?" August asked as he sat down next to her. When Angie nodded, he spoke again. "Sounds like you've got a case of writer's block. Only without the whole writing part."

"Maybe."

"You know when I get struck by a block, I usually reread what I've done. Rather than plow ahead blindly, sometimes I find there'll be a little nugget of inspiration left behind."

Angie glanced up at him. "You mean like starting over?"

"I mean when I start writing. I usually have one idea. And then in the middle? I made it another idea, and...things are different. When you started this investigation, what was it about?"

"A missing person," Angie told him

"Now it has become a murder. And then a cover-up...if you knew that then, maybe you would have approached things... differently."

Angie realized that August was right. But how would she approach this situation differently? Then, she knew the answer. She quickly stood up, grabbed Henry's book, and moved to leave. "Where are you going?" August questioned.

"Scene of the crime," Angie told him, halfway out the door. "Wanna come?"

August shrugged. "Let's use my bike." He tossed Angie the keys, which she caught.

A few minutes later, the two parked the bike by a tree near the toll bridge. Angie headed off towards the crime scene, August slowly following behind her. "Ruby found the box to the heart right over here. Just by the shore."

Just then, August paused and grunted. Angie paused briefly. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing. Just shin splints, let me walk it off."

The two arrived at the place where Ruby found the box, which was marked off with yellow caution tape. Angie climbed over the tape and headed towards the hole. She squatted and started to dig in the dirt like a gopher. At first, she came up empty, but soon she tapped something metal. Angie grinned. "August. Look." She removed a piece of metal from the hole.

"What is it?"

"A shard. From a shovel. Must've broken off when it hit a rock. If we can find the shovel that it broke off of, we can prove that Mary Margaret didn't bury the heart. We can prove she's innocent!"

"And I'm guessing you know exactly whose shovel it is."

–

Angie and August were standing outside of Regina's house waiting for the all clear. Angie had borrowed Emma's walkie talkie. She tapped on the siding as she waited. Finally, there was a brief static and Henry's voice came through the walkie talkie. "The eagle's in the nest and the package is secure."

"Henry, I left the codebook at home."

Angie could hear Henry rolling his eyes through the walkie. "She's getting in the shower and the keys are under the mat."

Angie reached under the mat and retrieved the key. They headed over to the garage, which Angie opened with the key. She turned to August. "Don't touch a thing," she warned. The two pulled out flashlights and started to explore the garage. Not long after they started, August called her over to show her a broken shovel.

She removed the shovel piece from her pocket and held it up to the shovel August had found. It fit perfectly. "We got her," Angie said with a smile.

–

Regina turned the situation around faster than a car making a U turn. Somehow, she had found out about the shovel. By the time Emma had arrived at her house with a search warrant, the shovel was gone. Angie was furious. So, she headed over to Granny's Bed and Breakfast to confront the only person that might have sold them out.
August opened the door almost instantly. "Hey. What's up?"

"How could you do this? How could you do this to me, to Mary Margaret?" Angie hollered at him.

"Woah! Slow down. Do what?"

"The shovel was gone when Emma got there. Regina knew we were coming for her."

August was shocked at the accusation. "You—you think that I told her?"

Angie took a deep breath to calm herself a little. "You were the only other person who knew about it."

August looked at her with pleading in his eyes. "I would hope that you would have enough faith to know that I would never betray you."

"Why should I? How do I know you're not lying about this? About everything? Everyone lies to me!"

"I'm not a liar."

"That is exactly what a liar would say."

Later that afternoon, Emma, Angie, and Mr. Gold watched as a squad took Mary Margaret away.

Angie turned to Mr. Gold. "You told us you could fix this. That's why we came to you. So that you could make sure Regina didn't win."

"Well, she hasn't, yet."

"Well, she's going to," Emma yelled at him. "And now our friend is going to pay for us trusting you."

"Look, Sheriff, Deputy, I know this is emotional, but it's also not over. You must have faith, there's still time."

"Time for what," Angie snapped.

"For me to work a little magic," Mr. Gold said as he left the room.

Emma was so frustrated that she proceeded to throw Sidney's flowerpot against a filing cabinet. Angie watched as something fell out of the pot. Something neither of them suspected. A bug.

–

Angie jogged over to where August was seated on a green bench. "Hey. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For doubting you. I made a mistake." She held up a plastic bag which held the bug inside.

August wrung his hands. "What's that?"

"Evidence that proves I've been trusting all the wrong people. As usual. It's kind of a recurring theme. I should've listened to you. This bug's from Sidney."

"The newspaper guy?

"I should've seen it."

August took her hand for a second. "Don't beat yourself up about it. Sometimes it's hard to see what's right in front of us. But I knew you would."

Angie sighed and leaned back. "I've got a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Do you ever just feel like you don't fit?"

August tapped his fingers on the side of the bench. "What do you mean?"

"Like there's something wrong with you that's not wrong with everyone else."

"Angie, there's nothing wrong with you," August insisted.

Angie gently touched the place on her side where the tattoo was as a small trickle of heat traced its way down her back. "I'm not so sure about that. I feel like I'm not supposed to be here. Not just in Storybrooke, period."

"Angie-"

"Not in the way you're thinking. I just feel...ugh, it's hard to explain. I guess it's the feeling that I don't get the things other people do. I can't love. I tried. Twice. It didn't exactly work out either time. The first, the man loved me for the wrong reasons and I didn't love him at all. The second, another man cared for me like a sister and I mistook that care for love. Plus, I don't think anyone understands the kind of person I was."

August took a second to process the gauntlet of information she had given him before speaking. "What kind of person were you?"

Angie adjusted her beanie. "A bad one. I did some bad things. Some things I don't think many people remember. But if they did, they would never forgive me."

"What kind of person are you now?"

Angie was about to respond when a scream split the air. The duo shared a look and quickly got up to investigate. Ruby ran out from inside an alley. "Ruby? What's going on?" August questioned.

Ruby could barely speak. "It's she-she's in the alley."

Angie followed Ruby's directions to the alley. Once she got there, she stopped and gasped. A body was laying down, yet still seemed to be breathing. It was Kathryn. And she was alive.