entranceway | [video]

[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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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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