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[Jefferson toys with the idea of publicly announcing his arrival for a long while. He had lived too long a hermit outside the fringes of Storybrooke society, and the idea of rejoining the thriving masses does not sound very appealing to him. Besides, there are other dangers to consider. Would the Queen of Hearts still be looking for him? Is the same Queen even in regency? He knows full well that nothing ever remains the same in Wonderland, and to expect the same as when he was here before would be absurd. He finally decides it is worth the risk.

How could he flush out his target without causing some sort of stir?

The video begins with Jefferson facing the camera directly, hands folded calmly in front of him and a darkened room behind him. He smiles easily, but there's something a little nervous in his demeanor. As far as anyone knows, he is new to Wonderland after all. A certain amount of uncertainty is to be expected. Little does anyone suspect how much time this man has spent in this nonsensical place. Or, at least, a fair facsimile thereof.]

Greetings, residents of Wonderland. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Jefferson, and I am a merchant by trade. Mostly rare fungi, but occasionally I dabble in trinkets... and hats. [He pulls a black silk hat into view of the camera briefly to illustrate his point.] I seem to have lost something of mine, and I wonder if any of you have seen it. It's about the size a breadbox. Cylindrical. Soft. Shabby-looking, I'm afraid, but very sturdy. If you feel you have found it, please contact me. I would hate for my something to cause a problem for anyone, so the sooner it can be back in my hands, the better.

[The smiles comes back, a little wider and more confident.]

And now Wonderland, I must ask you a very important question....

How do you take your tea?

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[Regardless whether or not it's the truth, you won't even hear Jefferson call himself mad. He knows the truth. What's crazy about that?

This seems like a friendly guy. Jefferson will respond in kind. He'll figure out the details as the conversation progresses.]

Neal, if anyone can explain how Wonderland works, I would love to see him try. [He laughs softly, but there's an edge of desperation in it.]

I just got here, but it's my third "visit" in one way or another. [Hopefully this one will go better than the last, but he doubts it.]

[Depends on what you define as the truth? Either way though. It's hard not to feel a little bad for the guy, given the way he laughs. Neal glances off to the side, idly scratching the back of his neck with his free hand.]

Well I mean, you want the mechanics of it, all I can say is "magic;" even the people around here who are really knowledgeable about that stuff can't explain how things actually happen in this place. [And most of the ones Neal knows aren't in a position to try at the moment.] But there are certain things we're sure of that you probably want to hear about.

Starting with the fact that this probably isn't the Wonderland you're familiar with. [Although it's possible the guy has been to this version of the realm before, it's more likely he's familiar with some other universe's variation.] There's alternate versions of the same realm out there, Wonderland included. So unless you remember being in the one where no one stays dead and we all go through some messed up event based on someone's memory every other week, this isn't the one you're thinking of.

[Jefferson listens intently. In the back of his mind, he's already trying to think of ways to make a new hat that works just enough to get him back to Storybrooke. He isn't hopeful, but he can't leave Grace... not again.... Even if Fate didn't want them reunited, he should be there to watch over her.]

I've never known Wonderland to abide by any rules, even the rules of magic. Even it's own rules. [but Neal is right. This couldn't be the same Wonderland he'd been to before. That would be too simple.

It may be noticeable that he's taking this all in stride, completely comfortable with the fact that everything he's being told is true. Jefferson is a pretty good liar when he needs to be, and he knows what to look for when someone's genuinely trying to be helpful. Not staying dead and alternate versions of realms? Old news. But the memory thing...? Jefferson covers his mouth with his hand to hide his expression. Memory is his curse. Nothing good would come from a realm like this.]

No way to escape, I assume. No magic portals or enchanted mirrors? It's never that easy.

[Jefferson isn’t entirely wrong in his observations, although he has no way of knowing that just yet. Neal doesn’t want to bring it up, but he can’t help but think how the last few events seem to have gone screwy; aside from that really mundane one with the hot springs, everything since December or so has lingered somehow. Things didn’t go back to the way they should be straight away, which had been why he ended up camping out in the basement way longer than he wanted.

Still, no matter how at ease the guy seems to be with everything he’s heard so far, Neal’s not telling that to a brand new arrival. Not to mention that Jefferson brings up something else that’s pretty interesting; other people talk about wanting to leave, but not that many mention methods how, and definitely not those. The question is, just how much does Neal want to reveal to this guy, given that their last few arrivals haven’t exactly fallen on the heroic side of the line?]

Never is. There aren’t even any magic beans floating around. [In the end though, it’s a risk he’s got to take. It’s not like Jefferson won’t figure out there’s people from stories around, or from Storybrook if it turns out he’s from the same world. And with Zelena making power plays, it’s better to figure out what side this guy’s on now rather than later.]

[Jefferson has made a long career out of trying to escape from one place to return to another, Wonderland included. It would be remiss of him to not already be thinking about ways to get back home again. He'd 28 years trying to get out of Storybrooke, and now all he wants is to get back. Being unable to approach Grace out of fear of rejection is one thing, but being pulled apart from her again by a curse and across the distance of another world... that is something else entirely.

He clenches his jaw, anger spiking briefly at his own powerlessness.]

Magic beans. Aren't those extinct?

[Guy doesn’t look happy, but then again, does anyone ever when they hear they’re trapped here? What’s more important to Neal is what he says about the beans; for most people that’d just be a joke, bitter humor about one fairytale to reflect the fact that somehow they’ve been trapped in another. And even for the ones who take it seriously, Neal’s gotta guess that there’re only so many places where the supply of beans has dwindled down to the point that they really are only things of stories now.]

Pretty sure they are—in the Enchanted Forest, anyway. [So he makes the leap, figuring that the odds are on his side.] Sounds like we might be from the same universe, which means you probably know some people around here. Regina, Rumplestiltskin, Emma Swan…

[Those are probably the big three Neal could expect anyone from their realm to recognize. Might as well see how he reacts to that much information first, then figure out where to go from there.]

[This guy managed to pick three names Jefferson is most familiar with (for better or worse) of all the inhabitants of Storybrooke. And if Neal thought Jefferson looked unhappy before, that is nothing compared to the expression on his face now.]

We've met. [Although it may be hard to tell which of the three he's referring to]

But you and I haven't, Neal. Why is that?

Yeah, kind of picked up on that. It doesn’t exactly look like you’re a fan, though. [Which isn’t exactly the biggest shocker in the world given that two of the three had gone through some pretty harsh evil phases. It’s honestly impossible for Neal to even guess at what might have been done to Jefferson, or which of them is responsible for it. Doesn’t mean he isn’t curious either, but Jefferson himself brings up a pretty good question before he can ask.]

I’d imagine there are a few reasons, but first I gotta ask what’s the last thing you remember from back home. Last major thing, I mean. Time works funny here; we’re all pulled from different dates.

[The answer to who's done Jefferson wrong and whose side he's on might surprise most people. But then again, knowing the stories as he does, maybe not. The "Mad" Hatter isn't known for his shining reputation.]

Sheriff Swan broke the Queen's curse with True Love's Kiss. Magic came to the World Without Magic, and the residents of Storybrooke got back the memories of their old lives. Two lives in one head, the same way that I'd suffered for the past 28 years.

[Jefferson accepts the fact that he probably has some catching up to do, but it doesn't take the sting off of what he's lost by coming here... and who he's stuck here with.]

[There's a lot to be addressed in all that, and honestly, the fact that Jefferson's from even further in the past than Neal probably should be at the top of the list. Probably, yet it isn't, if only because he lets slip a pretty big detail.]

Wait--you remembered? I didn't think anyone remembered who they really were during the curse. [Then again, Neal's only experience with it had been when Wonderland decided to play Storybrook for a few days.] How'd you pull that off? Pretty sure Rumplestiltskin didn't even remember until Emma came to town.

My Curse [he over-enunciates through gritted teeth] was to remember. Everything. I wouldn't be of any use to the Qu-- to Regina if I'd forgotten who I was and what I could do. Just another pawn in her game to be sacrificed and discarded. [The pawn is tired of getting played.]

Things began to change when the Savior came to town. Too much, and not enough. [His expression flinches without revealing what the underlying emotion is]

I reiterate, in my very long memory, how is it we've never met?

[Yeah, definitely no love lost there; then again, Neal can’t exactly blame Jefferson for the bitterness. He’d gotten a taste of Storybrooke thanks to Wonderland messing with their heads, and that had been messed up enough. But towards the end, people started to remember both their lives, the same way Jefferson is saying he had. He’d seen how much it messed with him, and that had been for a couple of days.

Back home, this guy went through that for twenty-eight years.]

She’s different, you know. Regina. [Not exactly the nicest person in the world, but still. Neal feels like he should say something.] She’s changed a lot since what you remember happened.

[Not that now is exactly the best time for Regina to prove it, given the mess going on with Zelena, but hey. Neal’s tried.

He peers a little closer at the phone when Jefferson brings up Emma again, but he doesn’t have much of a chance to ask. Jefferson’s asking about him now, and Neal huffs out a breath. At this point there’s nothing that’s going to come out of hiding it anyway.]

Because I wasn’t in Storybrooke, or cursed; I got to that world another way. [And a long time before Regina had even been born.] Back in the Enchanted Forest, my name was Baelfire. I’m Rumplestiltskin’s son.

[Jefferson ignores the comment about Regina's change of heart in favor of the far more interesting piece of news that this man has just given him.]

You're his son? [He squints at the video for a moment as he's trying to see the family resemblance. Then he leans way back in his seat and looks towards the ceiling as he talks mostly to himself.] The Dark One's son who got to the World Without Magic in a way different from everyone else. It must have been some time ago-- so that's the reason he was looking for the slippers. Why would anyone want to go to a world without magic, I said. But I would do the exact same thing. Who needs magic anyway when the alternative is family? [It wasn't in Jefferson's job description to ask why Rumple wanted the objects he asked for, but knowing... oh, knowing made it so much better.]

[He rocks forward, turning his attention back to the video] I worked for your father for a number of years back in the Enchanted Forest, [Take that as you will.] but we didn't talk much about our personal lives. None of my business. [so forgive him if he has no idea you existed]

[Neal nods, even goes so far as to lift his free hand and wave to the camera. He gets the feeling Jefferson's not really talking to him anymore though, not with how he looks away and starts muttering. It's pretty interesting stuff though. A guy who knew what his father was up to but not why--and even still he doesn't. Not in full, but Neal's also not going to fill in that gap with their bad family history.

Hard not to laugh when he gets to the end though. Man, if this guy only knew.]

Yeah? So why'd you stop working together? [Maybe it's personal, maybe it's not, but the one thing Neal needs to figure out fast is if they can trust Jefferson. If he and Rumplestiltskin parted on good terms, maybe he can help them with Zelena somehow.

And if not, its entirely possible they're all even more screwed.]

[Bad family history doesn't need any explanation. Jefferson only talks about his own when he's forced into it. He's a rather private person these days.]

I stopped working altogether. Once someone has others relying in them to protect and take care of them, one can't afford to travel around between worlds like he used to. There's nothing more important than family. Certainly not a job. Even a lucrative one. [A lesson he's learned the hard way. Three separate times.]

That's a good way of looking at it. [And out of everything Jefferson could have said, there probably isn't anything that would make Neal trust him more. That love of family above all is a trait that speaks highly of him, a lesson his father failed to learn until he'd already let go of Neal's hand.]

Listen, man. There's things going on here you need to hear about. [So Neal feels okay bringing Jefferson in on all this, although he takes a second to secure the feed just in case.] Don't know if you ever made it to Oz when you were hopping between worlds, but the Wicked Witch, Zelena? She's here, and she's got this insane plan to try and escape. She's trying to make a portal to go through time, and to do it she took Regina's heart--

[Which Neal doubts will make Jefferson feel all that bad, but he isn't done. He does hesitate, however, as he's not one to let this particular secret spill easily.]

--and the Dark One's dagger. [If he knows what it is, Neal won't have to say anything more.]

[Jefferson had figuratively "let go" of his family himself on more than one occasion. He's not going to be casting judgement on Rumple's parenting skills any time soon.]

I've traveled to Oz and am quite familiar with the Wicked Witch's reputation. I even stole from her once, a crystal ball right out of her vault, but she has no idea who I am. [as all good thieves should be able to brag. Infamy is for amateurs.

As for the switch to private video, he'd been getting hints from others about what's been happening here, but the details of the problem leave Jefferson with conflicting emotions about it. How torturous for Regina to be at the mercy of someone else. Regardless of her supposed "change of heart", Jefferson still holds a justifiable grudge against her. On the other hand, he held no enmity against Rumplestiltskin (despite the Dark One's actions in the Enchanted Forest), and he would rather not see that sort of power in the hands of anyone but Rumple's own.

It's the sort of situation where it really would be safer for Jefferson not to get involved.]

Could she do it? Would she be able to open a portal? [This causes Jefferson a very different sort of moral dilemma.]

Yeah? Maybe I'll buy you a drink sometime then. [Hey, what can he say? Anything that potentially gives Zelena a bad day, Neal's a fan of. That he's stolen from her successfully definitely means he could turn out to be useful, provided he agrees to help them.]

Don't know. Maybe she can get it open, maybe she can't. [Hard to say how far Wonderland's magic would let her get, but there is something Neal's damn sure of.] But either way, it won't work. My father, Regina, Emma--three of the most powerful forces from our world, right? And they've all been stuck here for at least a year. Whatever magic runs this place, it's stronger than anything we know of. Hell, it brings back the dead like it's nothing; not even a price until you die five times. You ever hear of anyone in our world coming close to that sort of power?

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