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Chapter Text

Sidney Glass has always been in love with Regina Mills since he could remember.

Kindergarten was when he had first met her. They had been in the same class. However, it wasn’t until fifth grade when he was able to recognize his love and devotion for the girl.

It happened just when Regina was being crowned the new Spelling Bee champion after successfully spelling the word unfeasible. And even though Regina didn’t go on to win the regional spelling bee, she did win his heart with her intelligence and beauty. That was when he knew that she was going to be his wife one day.

She just didn’t know this yet.

Years later, after the spelling bee, they were both in their senior year of high school at the age of seventeen. His love for Regina still ran deep; even if the girl, now a woman of utter beauty and elegance, was still oblivious to the fact that their honeymoon was to be spent in France in Autumn where’d they’d share their fifty-seventh kiss as a married couple under the Eiffel tower.

No, Regina did not know any of this, but he planned on telling her soon enough. That way, they’d be one step closer to their honeymoon in France; Regina currently being unavailable due to her relationship with the DA’s son, Robin Locksley, notwithstanding.

If you were to ask Sidney, he’d tell you that he was not concerned by the pompous rich boy. Sidney knew that his and Regina’s love was one of the truest, and that once he made himself known, she will promptly leave Robin and ride off into the sunset with him where they both will go on to graduate from Yale or Harvard (both colleges that Sidney applied to) at the top of their class. Him salutatorian to Regina’s valedictorian, just as they were in high school.

After college, they’ll get married before a party of thirty. Small, but personal.

However, before any of that could happen, he wanted to make sure that he at least had some kind of experience in being a boyfriend. If there was one thing he knew about Regina Mills, is that she despised incompetence (even though she chose to date someone like Robin, but he would not get into that). Sidney didn’t want to begin their life together incompetent in the ways of how a loving relationship between a man and a woman should be.

The end of their senior year was quickly approaching with only three months left to go before they graduated at the beginning of June. Sidney didn’t plan on spending more than a month with his temporary girlfriend before officially pairing up with his love, so he’d have to hurry fast if he wanted things to continue to flow along nicely with his goals, especially with prom coming up.

The thing is, there weren’t many girls there at Storybrooke High who even came close to Regina. However, the one who Sidney thought to be lovely enough for him to stand to be in a month-long relationship, was Belle French; third in their class after him.

She’d have to do.

After a bit of searching, Sidney finds her in the library. It really should have been the first place for him to have looked, but Belle wasn’t Regina, so he didn’t actually know or care enough to know everything about the girl. He guessed that was something he’d have to work on once he was her boyfriend.

Sidney approached her during his lunch, but her fifth, period. As the library student aide, Belle was returning books to their designated spots on the shelves as the system demanded. He waited politely just behind her and watched as she continued to return books to their place before she turned to meet his beaming face with a startled jump.

“Oh,” she gasped in surprise with a hand to her pounding chest at his sudden appearance. “You scared me.” she said with a nervous laugh as she looked upon the boy she barely knew. Despite them sharing a few advanced classes, she doesn’t think she’s shared even a handful of words with the boy.

Despite being a senior, the boy in front of her did not yet appear to have reached the more advanced stages of puberty. Though he was taller than her by a couple of inches, his face still had that youthful chubbiness. He still looked fifteen, not the seventeen-year-old boy he actually was. His glasses, which were a bit crooked, had medical tape keeping them together at the part where the arms met the frames. He wore a button up white shirt with a vest, dress pants and shoes. 

“My sincerest apologies, Ms. French. Scaring you is not what I intended.” Sidney told the girl. His face still held that ever wide smile.

“It’s fine. I scare easily.” She said politely with a small laugh. “Is there something you needed?”

“Yes. I would like for you to be my girlfriend?” he got right into it, confident that she wouldn’t refuse him. 

Belle blinked in surprise as that was the last thing she expected to come from his mouth.

“I’m sorry?” She said, her voice a little high.

“My girlfriend. You want to be it, yes?”

Belle began to feel uncomfortable as she looked off to the side as if seeking for help. Not finding any, she returned her eyes back to Sidney, who awaited her answer. 

The boy’s patience was beginning to wane. 

She was not saying yes fast enough.

“Um,” Belle said uneasily, “I hardly know you, Sidney.”

“That’s not a problem we cannot fix. I’m sure after a couple of dates, I’ll know everything there is to know about you.” He told her confidently. After all, it hadn’t taken him but a week of following Regina around outside of school to get a good outlook on who his future wife was. He was sure it would be the same with the bookworm. 

Belle did not look excited.

“I’m sorry, Sidney.” Belle said as sweetly as possible. 

However, despite her tone, a small frown began to form on the boy’s face as ‘I’m sorry’ wasn’t one of the phrases he expected to hear from the girl. 

“But I-… I just don’t think I can be your girlfriend,” Belle finished before quickly adding. “I mean, don’t get me wrong! You seem…sweet. I’m sure you’ll have no problem in finding a girlfriend, but I’m just not interested in dating anyone right now.” She said, telling a white lie in the process. 

Belle had no problem with dating. In fact, there was actually someone she had her eyes on. She just didn’t want to hurt the boy’s feelings by saying she wasn’t interested in dating him specifically. 

“I’m really sorry.” Belle said again with an apologetic grimace.

Sidney’s face fell into a neutral expression, giving no hint to the rage that was slowly began to simmer at her rejection. Instead, he gave the student aide an understanding smile before saying, “Oh, that’s fine. I get it,” 

This shit was not fine.

His rage heightened upon seeing her sweet, relieved, smile.

“Good, I’m glad you understand.”

Sidney nodded before saying that he had to go and catch lunch before the period ended. 

The girl wished him goodbye, her sweet smile still in place. As soon as his back was to the girl, the sneer he wanted to give her morphed onto his face.

Sidney wasn’t stupid! 

He was salutatorian for Christ sakes! 

The only one smarter than him was his true love. He saw right through her blatant lies.

That sweet smile was nothing but a façade that expertly disguised the laughter she was no doubt letting loose now that he was out of ear shot. She was probably texting all her bitch friends about it too, making all kinds of fun about him behind his back.

Fuck her. 

He’d show her. 

He’d show her when he made the prettiest girl at the school (second to his love, of course) his girlfriend. As soon as Belle sees Mary Margaret Blanchard (she was mostly known as Snow, but Sidney refused to call her by that ridiculous name) on his arm and giving him love struck eyes, she’d surely become jealous. 

She’d regret rejecting him then. 

He was sure of it.

Before first period upon the new day, when students were visiting their lockers, Sidney sought out Mary Margaret Blanchard.

He chose to do it early before classes started because this was the only time Mary Margaret was not attached to her footballer boyfriend, David Nolan; a total egg head who had football practice as his first period.

David Nolan may have been handsome, but he must have taken one too many hits to the head with how slow he seemed to be. Sidney was surprised at how he’d made it all the way to their senior year. 

He guessed that miracles did happen.

As Sidney passed through the crowded hall, his eyes caught Belle French’s, who gave him a small, and somewhat, apologetic smile that was quickly followed by a short wave. Sidney scowled before picking up his pace.

That fucking bitch was trying to rub it in. 

I’ll show her. He thought as Marry Margaret’s fair form finally came upon him.

The dark-haired girl, who had a heart shaped face and rosy cheeks, was at her locker and laughing away with her pregnant best friend — the slut — Ashley Boyd, who was the first to take notice that he had been standing in front of them for the last thirty-seconds, waiting for them to cease giggling like milk drunk toddlers.

The sound grated his nerves.

“Oh, hi,” Marry Margaret greeted him with laughter still in her voice once Ashley motioned towards him with her eyes. “Sidney, right?”

“Yes, Sidney Glass,” he said, trying to keep the annoyance he felt out of his voice.

“Are we blocking your locker?” Ashley asked as she moved slightly away from the blue locker in which she had been previously leaning against.

“No, my locker is on the other end of the hall.”

“Ah,” the pregnant teen said. Awkward silence ensued as both girls wanted to ask what the boy wanted without seeming rude.

“If you don’t mind, Ms. Boyd. I have some things I wish to discuss with Ms. Blanchard here. Alone.”

At that, both girl’s eyebrows rose as they shared a look at his pushy request. And why was the eighteen-year-old was using their last names like that? 

Weird.

“Sure,” Ashley answered after a moment of eye communication with her best friend where she had asked the girl if she would be okay with her leaving her alone with Sidney, who, for some unknown reason, made her feel uncomfortable.

Snow gave her a slight nod of her head, saying without words that she would be fine.

“I’ll see you in class, Snow.” Ashley waved before leaving them. Snow would no doubt fill her in later in class.

Once she was gone, Snow turned her full attention to Sidney, who was now smiling at her. “So, how can I help you, Sidney?”

“Now, while you were not my first, or second choice for that matter, I think you would make a suitable girlfriend.” The arrogant boy informed the shorter girl, who bristled at his words.

“You’re what now?” Snow repeated slowly, shock and disbelief in her voice.

“My girlfriend, yes.” He confirmed. It looked as if some of her boyfriend’s slowness had rubbed off on her. “I’ve already placed a reservation at Le Grade de Rose for 8 o’clock Friday night. Wear something nice. A dress, preferably. Something that will complement my suit.”

“Look, Sidney.” Mary Margaret began with a small, affronted laugh at the boy’s audacity. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but I already have a boyfriend, so I can’t possibly be yours.” She told him as she straightened her body. Sidney did not appear to be concerned by her words.

“Then dump him." He told her as if that should have been obvious.

A frown took to Mary Margaret’s lips. “No. I will not dump him. I love him.” She told him, annoyance creeping into her voice. “And you can’t just tell someone to leave their boyfriend.”

A scowl took to Sidney’s face. Yet another girl was telling him no. Though, this time he did not plan on taking it as easily.

“You can’t possibly love that imbecile. He has nothing going for him after graduation. I’m going to be at either Harvard or Yale. Logically, I’m the much better choice.” He told her, even though he planned on dumping her once he felt that he was experienced enough for his love.

“I said no, Sidney. And I mean it.” Snow said firmly, her eyes hard as they glared at the persistent teen. “And even if I didn’t have David, I still wouldn’t go out with a jerk like you. Seriously, what kind of guy tells a girl that she’s their second choice?” she asked him.

“Third, actually.” Sidney corrected.

Snow’s eyes narrowed. “You’re an asshole.” She told him. “Stay away from me.” She stated firmly before promptly leaving him where he stood at her locker.

Sidney glared daggers at Snow’s back as she disappeared further down the hall. 

He’d been rejected once again. 

He was beginning to become pissed off.

He had clearly misjudged Belle and Marry Margaret. 

Turns out they were both fucking stuck up bitches who thought they were better than him. He wouldn’t be surprised if they both got together to laugh about him behind his back; laughing at poor, pathetic Sidney Glass who couldn’t get a girl.

He couldn’t let them think that. 

No. 

He needed to find a girl that was hotter than those two combined. They wouldn’t think he was pathetic then, and neither would Regina, who Snow would surely tell everything to as both of their parents, Principal Leopold Blanchard and Mayor Mills, were engaged to each other. 

He didn’t want his true love to think he was incompetent.

He knew she despised such things.

After a couple of days of brainstorming about who his next best stand in girl could be, he finally finds her; one who was ten times hotter than those other bitches combined, and one who would never reject him.

Why was he so confident that she was the one? Well, for one; everyone knew that Ruby Lucas didn’t refuse sex from anyone.

She was the prime example of a whore.  Instead of him getting her being his girlfriend, he’d just have her have sex with him.

She was not worthy of the title of girlfriend, but what he could do was sleep with her whenever he wanted to gain the experience he needed to pleasure his future wife. And though he would have rather lost his virginity to his one true love, he did not want to seem incompetent in the bedroom.

He decided to approach Ruby after school.

When he first found her, she was blatantly flirting with Neal Gold, the son of his calculus teacher, Mr. Gold. Both father and son were assholes, but Neal took the cake as he’d frequently push him around along with his friend, Greg Mendel, who was even worse. Greg was not afraid of punching him and getting into trouble for it, seeing as none of his parents worked at the high school like Neals to monitor his behavior.

Not feeling like having a confrontation with Neal, Sidney waited in the distance and away from their line of sight until he left. He ended up having to wait for quite some time as Ruby, the slut that she was, dragged Neal to the back of the school and inside the janitor’s garden shed where the sounds of muffled groans of sex were soon heard after.

Though the thought of anyone having sex with Neal Gold of all people disgusted him, his confidence rose as well. Her standards were very low if Ruby was willing to fuck Neal Gold, then she’d certainly have no problem with him. Not saying that he himself was the low standard, or course.

When they were finally done in the shed, Neal was the first to leave, in turn, leaving Ruby behind to presumably fix herself up. Once making sure that Neal was long gone, Sidney took the opportunity to finally approach her. He hurried his way to the shed before slipping inside.

The promiscuous girl wore gothic like clothing that broke all kinds of dress codes from how short and revealing it was. Her back was to him as she smoked a cigarette, evident from the smell (which intermingled with the smell of sex) and the puffs of smoke that dissipated towards to the ceiling. 

His nose scrunched in distaste. Smokers were a major turn off to him. He would have turned straight around if he didn’t need her so much. He’d just have to make sure not to kiss her while they were doing the deed; maybe even withhold sex later down the line if she continued to smoke.

“Back for more, Gold?” the gothic girl’s sultry voice purred knowingly before she finally turned to face the boy in front of her. The smirk that had previously been on her face, promptly fell into a frown. “You’re definitely not Neal.” She droned before taking another drag of her cigarette.

“Something that I am sincerely grateful for.” He commented, causing Ruby to let out a barely audible snort of amusement.

“Soooo, what do you want?” she asked him after a bit of awkward silence where the boy had been too amazed and proud of himself for making the girl laugh.

“I want to have sex with you.” He stated firmly. Ruby immediately burst into laughter at his words, and not the kind of laughter he had been previously pleased to have conjured from the girl. This was more mocking than amusing.

“You fucking serious right now?” she said through her chuckles, her eyes dancing in amusement.

“Yes,” he said through clenched teeth as he began to tense with barely restrained anger. “My parents will be gone all afternoon and well into the evening, so my house would be most suitable. I have also acquired condoms.” Something he was sure she had never even used before “We won’t have to worry about being interrupted. All I ask is that you thoroughly wash yourself before our time together.”

“Woah there, slick.” Ruby said with a wave of her hands and a shake of her head, her eyes momentarily closing before opening again. Though she seemed amused by his proposition, she also seemed really pissed. “First of all, fuck you very much for that last comment. I’m not dirty, you fuck. And secondly; I’m not fucking you.” She told him, very much disgusted at the thought.

“You’re not supposed to say no.” He stated with a hard face.

A brow raised high on Ruby’s face as she became more scandalized by his words. “Are you fucking high right now, Flavio? What makes you think I’d willingly sleep with you?”

“Because you sleep with anyone and everyone else.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Uh, no. I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but I’ve only had sex with three guys since freshman year. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“But you sleep with Gold.”

“He’s one of the three, asshole. And also happens to my boyfriend.”

“You’re lying,” He stated with a frown.

Ruby lets out an incredulous laugh. This balls on this guy. “Who are you to tell me—” She began to get worked up only to stop herself upon realizing that the boy was not worth her time.

“You know what? Why am I even entertaining this? I’m done.” She told him before heading towards the shed’s exit only to be stopped by Sidney’s near desperate voice saying,

“Wait! I’ll pay you!”

Ruby violently swung her body back around to stare him down with rage filled eyes. It scared Sidney a little to see. “You’ll do what?” She asked, her tone low and dangerous, daring the boy to repeat what he had just said.

Sidney either had no self-preservation or he did not care as he repeated what he had said, “I’ll pay you one-hundred dollars if you sleep with me right now.”

Though, he never received a verbal answer. Instead, it came in the form of a punch to the eye and a hard push into the water hose in which he became entangled with.

“Fuck you!” Ruby spat out as she stared down at his pathetic form. “If I were you, I wouldn’t come to school tomorrow.” She informed him with some pleasure at the thought of her boyfriend beating Sidney’s ass. She then turned and stormed out of the shed, leaving Sidney seething after her.

Chapter Text

Neal waited at the front of the school with his friend Greg Mendell. David Nolan was next to them.

“What are you going to do when you see him?” David asks them.

“We’re going to teach the shit stain a lesson about messing with our girls.” Neal said through gritted teeth.

“You’re not going to hurt him, are you?” David asked.

Neal smirked with a shrug. “We may rough him up a bit. Nothing he doesn’t deserve.”

“This doesn’t feel right.” David frowned.

Neal rolled his eyes. “How else will the punk learn? He went behind our backs and propositioned our girlfriends to fuck him. Guys like him only learn through a good knock to the head, and that’s exactly what I plan on giving him.”

David still does not look convinced.

"Listen, Nolan. No one said you had to be there. Greg and I can handle it; just as long as you don’t get in our way.”

David agrees.

Just then Sidney shows up. He had a black eye.

“Your work?” David asked Neal with a motion of his head, pointing out the black eye on Sidney’s face.

“Nah, that one is all Ruby.” Neal said with a proud smile at the thought of his girlfriend socking that perv in the face.

David tells them not to hurt him too bad before leaving them, disappearing into the school.

Neal scoffed at the school’s golden boy who thought he could boss them around.

Neal and Greg straighten up from where they were leaning on the railing at the font of the school.

Neal calls out Sidney’s name.

The boy looks up from his deep thoughts and locks eyes with Gold. His eyes then flicker over to Greg, who was cracking his knuckles and his neck. Realization dawns on him and he takes off running.

“Keep running, you fuck! I love a chase.” Neal yells out to the boy before they give chase.

They catch him behind the school and near the dumpsters. They beat him up and then strip him down to his underwear where they take pictures of him before tossing him into the dumpster. They then dump a bucket of dirty rainwater on him that had collected in a bucket from last week’s storm. Trash got soaked and stuck to his body, making everything that much worse.

They tell him to stay away from their girlfriends. His clothes were tossed in after him. They take another picture of Sidney before putting something heavy on top of the closed lid to prevent him from easily escaping.

Sidney is trapped in the dumpster for hours. The whole time he was in there, other students would come by and laugh and throw more trash at him. Food and drinks from the cafeteria. They’d just point their phones at him and laugh instead of helping. And they’d always put the weight back over the lid, preventing him from getting out.

Sidney knew they were sharing the videos through social media, and he loathed to think that Regina herself saw. He couldn’t let her think that he was just some weak and pathetic kid who took shit from guys like Neal.

He’d show them he was not one to be messed with. They’ll regret ever underestimating him. He’ll show Regina that he was a man or worth, and that everyone would bow before him. She won’t be able to deny him like those other bitches had once she saw his strength.

He is only able to escape when Leroy, the school’s head janitor comes out to sneak drink of liquor from his flask. Hearing the man’s grumbling about the bastards he had to clean up after, Sidney calls his attention to the dumpster and asks for him to let him out.

At first, Leroy thought he was drunker than he thought he was, but when Sidney continues to call out to him and then in turn banging on the sides of the dumpster, he takes note of the oversized tire that the football team flipped during training lay on top of the dumpster’s lid. Leroy stumbled over and, with a bit of struggle but certainly more strength than Sidney, pushed the heavy tire off and freed the boy of his smelly prison.

As Leroy helps the boy climb out, he asks if he was okay, calling him kid.

Sidney was surprisingly clam despite everything. He smelt like shit and looked like shit, but he seemed unbothered by it all. It weirded Leroy out. In fact, Sidney was at peace because he had a plan. A plan that had him lifting the arsenal of keys from Leroy’s belt without the drunk man noticing.

Sidney does not return to school. Instead, he goes straight home and begins planning.

Emma was at Granny’s dinner with her best friend’s Killian and Graham.

Before she had moved to Storybrooke, she did not really have any friends. But the moment she got to the small town, these two half-brothers had latched on to her and would not leave her alone. Not that she really wanted them too now that they had grown on her. For some reason, she was liked by people at Storybrooke high. She was a foster kid who lived with Ingrid Winters, who was a teacher at the high school.

Killian, who was on ClapChat, lets out a loud laugh and shows Emma and Graham what he was looking at. 

It was ClapChat videos of Sidney Glass.

In the first video, he was outside their school and in his underwear, arms crossed from the cold and his chicken legs closed tight together. 

The second video was of him inside a dumpster, drenched and amongst a pile of trash. 

There were several comments from their classmates under the comments, laughing about the boy and commenting on how that pervert/freak deserved it.

‘That’s fucked up.’ Emma comments. Yeah, the boy was beyond weird, and she’s heard about how much of a pompous ass he was, but he did not deserve to be humiliated like that.

Graham, who was always out of the loop when it came to school gossip, asks what Sidney did to deserve that.

Killian says from what he’s heard, apparently Sidney had been going around harassing Snow and Ruby into sleeping with him. When they told him no, he got all nasty and rapey with them. They told their boyfriends who weren’t too happy about it.

Killian then looks up from his phone and sees Ruby coming back from the diner’s kitchen in the back. Wanting the real story behind the picture, and from a credible source, he calls Ruby over to their table. 

Killian asks her about her version of what happened with Sidney.

Ruby rolls her eyes and says that the creep thought she’d sleep with him and basically called her a whore when she told him no — he even tried to pay me for it.

Killian laughed at that, asking how much.

She tells him one-hundred dollars.

Killian says he would have fucked the guy for a hundred dollars. H is favorite band would be coming to town soon. Killian joked that Ruby was missing out on easy money.

Ruby rolls her eyes and slaps at his shoulder, telling him she’ll pass the message along. She then asks them if they were going to Robin’s tonight. 

They said that they were.

Emma had never really been invited to hang out with her classmates outside of school until she came to Storybrooke. She had no idea why these people seemed to like her, but she was glad that they did.

Killian, Emma, Regina, Graham, Neal, Ruby, and Belle all stay the night at Robin’s. That’s when they find out that belle too had been accosted by Sidney. 

At some point Robin and Regina have a fight.

He keeps pressuring her into having sex with him when she’s not ready. 

She is upset by this and storms down from upstairs from where she and Robin had been in his room. Everyone else who was single was half-asleep and watching Catfish reruns.

Regina storms outside. 

Emma, who was on the floor and slumped against the couch with her head using the couch’s seat cushion as a pillow, watched her go. She then looked over to Robin, who was shirtless and in his boxers. Emma asks him what was wrong with Regina.

Robin tells her that she was just being dramatic. He says this as he sips on a fresh beer, plopping down on the couch next to Killian who was passed out with half a hand down his pants. The dark-haired boy snorted awake at the movement and fell off the couch. Robin laughed at him.

Emma got up from the couch and followed after Regina. She found the other girl standing on the front porch and looking upset as she stared out and towards empty street.

Emma persuades her to go to Walmart with her because she wanted ice cream.

Regina does not look fond of the idea of Walmart. ‘isn’t it a bit late for a trip to Walmart, Emma?’

‘No, never. In fact, this is the best time to hit it up. It’s freak hour.’

‘And what does that say about you?’

‘Oh, don’t you know? I’m a total freak.’

‘really,’

‘oh, yeah. The biggest one, I’m afraid.’

Its two in the morning and they were at Walmart. 

Regina looks around with a small frown to her face and says that it was disgusting how late this store stayed open. Her eyes were staring at the alarming amount of people who were roaming the aisles in their pajamas with no cares.

Emma looked at her and laughed. Let me guess. You’re a Targé kind of girl?’

”Targé? Regina repeated in confusion.

“It’s fancy speak for Target.” Emma clarified.

Regina scoffed and said who in the world called it that.

Emma laughed and said literally everyone.

Regina said obviously not everyone if she did not know.

Emma said that she was just special.

Regina rolled her eyes then said that yes, she preferred Targé over other stores if she can help it.

Emma says she’ll corrupt her to the dark side.

They pass up frazzled men and women who were either out for pregnancy foods, or diapers and medicine. They passed up overly obese people in their motor scooters. They completely forgot about their mission of getting ice cream as Emma took her all over the store acting like a complete child all in the name of cheering Regina up.

As they pass up an aisle, Emma notices Sidney in the hardware section. He was placing thick chains into his shopping cart that already had a large backpack that were combat in style, camo pants, a black long sleeve shirt, gloves, and moving boxes. He had bruises on visible parts of his body and not one, but two black eyes. He looked like a raccoon.

What’s he doing here so late? Regina questioned as she too took notice of his presence.

‘Probably building his murder kit after what Neal and his idiot friends did to him.’ Emma joked.

Regina says that while she does not particularly care for what those boys did, Sidney has had an unfortunate crush on her for as long as she could remember. She thinks they should not have done that to the boy.

They do not spend too much more time in the store after that. They get their ice cream, paid for by Emma with the money that Ingrid gave her every now and then. She takes a pint and pops the lid off and inspect its creamy surface.

Regina watches her and asks what she was doing.

Emma looks up and as she closes the lid and says she saw a video once on ClapChat of some clout chasing chick licking the top of the ice cream before putting it back in the refrigerator. Regina face contorts in disgust. Emma says yeah, ever since she’d seen that she’s made sure to check.

They walk back to Robin’s house, eating some of the ice cream while passing it back and forth using the same spoon they had gotten from the deli section. It had been the only one left. Which, at first regina found disgusting but Emma promised that she did not have herpes, and that Regina should be promising her she didn’t have them seeing as she dated Robin.

Emma froze at that. Regina glares lightly at her. ‘What is that supposed to me?’

Emma laughs a little. She couldn’t very well tell the girl that her boyfriend was a dick and had been fucking cheerleader Marian Stewart behind her back. Could she? They did not know each other that much. Tonight was the most they had spoken with one another despite hanging out in the same social groups. 

No, it was not her place.

Instead, she says that she just heard what type of girl’s he used to date before he met someone as classy/lovely as her.

Regina stares at her while Emma keeps her mouth stuffed with ice cream. ‘You think I’m classy.’

“Yeah. I think you’re great.” Emma said with a smile to the other girl.

When they reach Robin’s, everyone was asleep. Killian was passed out on the lazy boy, curled into a ball and with a tattered Mexican blanket on him. Graham and Belle were cuddled on the couch, making Emma wonder if they were a thing. The other couple, Neal and Ruby, were upstairs in one of the spare bedrooms. 

Robin was absent from the living room, having made his way back up to his room at some point.

Regina thanks her for keeping her company.

Emma smiles and says anytime. She then asks if she’ll be okay. With her hand, she motions towards the stairs that lead to where Robin was.

Regina says that she’ll be fine before giving her a low wave and telling her goodnight.

‘Goodnight.’ Emma returned softly was she watched her go up.

When Regina disappeared, Emma took residency on the carpeted floor after stealing a couch pillow from behind Graham’s back, who groaned in protest at the slight movement. She falls asleep.

Sidney was in his room, furiously writing in his journal when a knock on his door could be heard, followed by it opening. His father pokes his head in.

‘You still up, son?’ The Dominican man asked. He was dressed too smartly for three in the morning.

‘Yeah, can’t sleep. I have all these ideas.’ Sidney replied.

‘Ah, well your mom and I are heading out to the airport. Our flight leaves out at five, so you won’t be able to reach us until we land around seven.’

‘Okay,’ Sidney acknowledged.

‘See you after school Monday. Call us if you need anything.’

‘Bye, love you.’

‘Love you too. And get some sleep. The bags under your eyes are looking heavier than the ones your mom packed.’ The man joked before exiting the room, closing the door behind him as he went.

Once he heard the front door closing and the car leaving the driveway, he hopped out of his chair to peek out the window and watched as the car left the neighborhood. They would not return until he’d made a name for himself.

Once the car was gone, Sidney hurried downstairs and to the garage. He turned on the lights and headed over to the black, metal storage locker where a lock was present.

He had already gotten bolt cutters to take care of this problem, as his father took the key with him everywhere. He cut the lock and opened the case, activating the automatic overhead lights that were inside, to reveal two black automatic rifles and an assortment of handguns.

‘Gotta love America.’ He said with a smile as he reached out to caresses the rifle. He loved how cool the metal felt under his touch. It was cold now, but it would burn hot come Monday. 

‘You and me are going to have some fun.’

Chapter Text

Sidney woke up early that morning. All the things he needed for his mission was packed and ready to go downstairs. His room was packed into the moving boxes he’d gotten from Walmart. He did not want to burden his mother with the job of cleaning up after him should he not make it out.

He goes to the school while most of the student population had yet to arrive. Those who were there at this time were the coaches and the athletes who had practice before school.

He brings his car around to the side of the school, where the loading bay and dumpsters were. He grabs the bags he’d brought and carried them to the janitors closet that was not too far from the cafeteria. He’d chosen this closet because of its positioning. With a look to his left and then to his right, he pulled out the keys he’d lifted from the janitor, Leroy, and unlocked the door before going in.

David noticed Sidney during his water break on the sideline while at football practice. He notices that Sidney was wearing a black hoody, cameo pants and boots. Sidney always looked as if he were on his way to crunch numbers on Wall Street. David does not think he’s ever seen the other boy so dressed down before.

David couldn’t make out the black eyes and bruises that Sidney had from where he stood, but he knew they were there from what he saw from the ClapChat videos. David planned to have a talk with Neal and Greg about their methods.

David’s eyes narrow slightly as he continued to watch Sidney. He watched as the boy went to the trunk of a car that parked by the loading bays to the cafeteria and take out a long, black duffle bag and a military backpack.

‘Huh. That’s kind of weird.’ David though.

Coach gathers his attention telling him to get back to work.

David says, ‘yes coach,’ and goes back to running drills with his teammates, but not without looking back and over his shoulder one more time to where Sidney had been.

The trunk to the car was closed and Sidney was gone.

Emma is dressed and is having breakfast with her foster mother, Ingrid, before they both head to school. Ingrid was an English teacher at Storybrooke.

They talk about summer plans. Ingrid wants Emma to meet her two nieces, who she raised as her own ever since she was twenty-two. She wanted Emma to meet them before Emma went off to college.

Emma feels a little guilty about continuing to lie to her foster mother about going to college. She wanted to skip out on college, at least for right now; school had never been her thing and plus, she felt so guilty that the woman was willing to pay for such a pricy tuition. Emma wanted to spare the woman from the finical undertaking and get a job and save up enough to pay for it herself.

Of course, Emma does not tell her that. instead, she says the summer plans sounds like a good idea.

On the other side of town, Regina and her mother are having breakfast as well and talking about summer and college plans. However, things are a little more heated.

Regina is arguing with her mother about college and how she wanted to defer a year to travel. She wanted to go to Spain and see her father’s side of the family. She has not seen them since well before his death when they had gone flew his body to Spain to bury him there on his family’s estate.

Cora is against it saying that her peers will be a year ahead of her and that if she wanted to gallivant around, she could do that after she’d received her law degree. Now was not the time to slow down momentum. “And if you even think about going against me on this, just know you’ll find your account frozen before you even heard the word ‘Bienvenido.’”

FIRST PERIOD

Sidney attended his first period as normal.

When he was headed towards first period, he had been met with people snickering at him. They called him Oscar Grouch (from sesame street) as he passed by. During class, some of his classmates were even playing the ClapChat videos of him while he sat right next to them.

One girl dramatically says, ‘gross’ when seeing the video of him in his underwear.

“What, Cynthia? That doesn’t turn you on? That’s prime man meat right there. I heard he was looking for a girl. He could be your new man.” One jock joked to the cheerleader, who promptly feigned a gag , pointing a finger near her open mouth as if to force herself to throw up.

Despite all that, Sidney just smiled. As he knew what was in store for them. “You laugh now, Mr. Livingston, but will you laugh later?”

Micheal Livingston and his friends stare at him for a few beats before cracking in laughter.

The bell rang for the end of the period.

“Later, Grouch.” Micheal said as he shoved past the boy.

“No, Micheal. Soon.” Sidney promised as he watched them leave.

He did not notice the suspicious eyes watching the scene before he himself left the room.

SECOND PERIOD

Mulan talks with her calculus teacher, Mr. Gold, saying she felt that something was off with Sidney Glass. First off, he was dressing weird. Second, he was saying some weird stuff before the end of period.

Mr. Gold says he has Sidney next period and that he would have a talk with him.

Sidney was one of his brightest students, but he was exhaustingly arrogant to the point where Rumple could admit to being glad that Sidney would be graduating this year.

THIRD PERIOD

As everyone walked out of his third period calculus class, Mr. Rumple Gold holds Sidney up, saying that he would like a word with him.

Once the last student had left his class, leaving Rumple alone with Sidney, Rumple informs him that ‘another student has approached him with concerns for his behavior. They said you were acting strangely. Is there something going on with you that you would like to share, Mr. Glass?’

When Rumple first saw the boy at the start of the period, he had been startled to see the two black eyes. When Rumple asked about it, Sidney had said ‘that he had gone to the shooting range that weekend and couldn’t quite keep a firm grip.’

Gold had been watching the boy the entire period and could not see anything that would conjure concern other than the black eyes, which the boy had explained. And though Ms. Fa had been correct in her saying that the boy, who usually wore business attire, was now dressed out of character in his black shirt, green and black camo-pants with black boots; such a thing, however unusual of him, was not against the rules.

And for as far as his behavior, the boy who would often spend the period bombarding him with corrections to everything he taught, had been unusually quite this period as he scribbled away in his notebook. Though, Rumple saw that as a much-needed break for the constant stream of criticism of his teaching methods.

Rumple told Sidney to be sure to see the nurse for ice on those black eyes. And to take better care at the range next time.

Sidney gave a small laugh. ‘Don’t worry, Mr. Gold. I’ve got it all figured out now.’

FOURTH PERIOD

Fourth period was when Sidney worked as the front office aide alongside a sophomore named Tom, who everyone (but Sidney) called Sneezy.

As expected, as soon as the front office secretary, Ms. Astrid Nova, saw him enter the office, she smiled, got up, and headed to the bathroom. She would stay there for the next ten minutes, as she did everyday like clockwork. Once she was gone, Sidney made sure the door to the principal’s office was closed, before making his way behind the woman’s desk. There, he retrieved the empty stack of yellow summon slips. He then wrote out six names on six different slips.

The door to the front office opened. A student walked in.

“Good, you’re here. Principal Blanchard needs you to hand these summon slips out.” He told the sophomore as Sidney handed over a small stack of six summon slips to the boy.

Sneezy inspected each yellow slip that had the names and classes of each student he was expected to retrieve. He mentally mapped out the best routes to go about delivering them.

“This one is at lunch.” Sneezy said, holding up the slip in question. “Principal Blanchard doesn’t see students when they’re on their lunch.”

“Today he is. They’re all involved in something quite serious, and he needs to speak with them immediately.” Sidney lied.

The sophomore just shrugged and said whatever.

“Principal Blanchard is short on time, so you need to execute your task efficiently, Mr. Clark. Go straight to the classrooms. No diversions. That means no lallygagging or trying to talk to your little friends. Straight there. Got it?” Sidney stressed to the younger teen.

“Yeah, yeah. This isn’t my first day, you know. I’ve done this before.” Sneezy said before he exited the front office. “Prick,” he muttered to himself as he set out to do his task, popping both of his earbuds in his ears.

Sidney allowed a pleased smile to grace his face as he watched him go before setting out to execute his own tasks.

He began to head towards the seldom used janitor’s closet he had commandeered. Before turning the corner, Leroy stops him in his path.

“Hey, kid. You wouldn’t happen to have seen my keys, would you? I had them before I pulled you out of the dumpster Friday, but afterwards—” The man threw his hands up. “I dunno, they kind of disappeared on me.” He said with an anxious laugh.

Leroy did not look as if he started his daily ritual of hitting the bottle just yet. Probably because he was too worried about finding the keys that were currently tucked away in Sidney’s back right pocket. Sidney was sure that it wouldn’t be long before he went for his bottle. After Sidney was done with this school, Leroy would surely need it.

“You helped me Friday when no one else did. You have earned my mercy.”

“What?” Leroy said, looking at him like he was crazy. He’s heard things about this kid. Kind of hard not to when everyone tended to ignore the one going around cleaning up their messes.

They said he was weird. He could definitely agree on that.

Sidney does not repeat what he said, instead he says, “I have not seen your keys, Mr. Clark, but perhaps I can let Principal Blanchard know a replacement is needed?”

Leroy faked a smile, waving his hands. “That won’t be necessary. I’m sure they’re just in my office somewhere. Was never good at finding stuff. Takes me forever to find Waldo.” He laughed. "Anyways, I should get going. Got things to clean. Shit to fix.’

“Farewell, Mr. Clark.” Sidney said ominously with a firm nod of his head before leaving the man behind.

Leroy watched him go for a moment before muttering, “Weird kid,”

FOURTH PERIOD - Emma

Emma is in class and is group texting Killian and Graham on her phone. The half-brothers were both out from school due to a routine dentist appointment. Emma was complaining to them, saying that they were evil to leave her behind at school. And how bored she was without them.

The brothers agree to come back to the school to entertain her for the rest of the school day, even though their mother had given them permission to take the rest of day off at home.

The teacher catches her on her phone and says that this was the third time she’s caught Emma on her phone in the last two weeks, and that she was not going to keep wasting her breath on the matter. Go see Principal blanched in his office.’

This earns her a chorus of Ooos from her classmates. With a small sigh and an eye roll, Emma stood up and left the class. She headed towards the front office.

FOURTH PERIOD - Ruby and Neal

The lights were off except for the standing lamp that was in the top left corner of the art room. It was to provide shadow to the self-portraits they were supposed to be drawing, evident to the small personal mirrors and sheets of sketch paper that were placed in front of them.

Ruby and Neal sat in the back.

The couple were huddled together, heads close, and speaking lowly to each other. Neal had his hand on Ruby’s thigh. He rubbed at it enticingly.

“Come on, Ruby. Let me do it.” Neal said before he moved a lock of dark hair from the girl’s face and behind her ear.

“No, Neal. It’s weird.” Ruby told him.

“How is it weird if all the guy’s girlfriends are doing it?” He countered.

Ruby scoffed. “Go fuck one of them, then, Neal. I’m not about to let you do me in the ass.”

“You’re being selfish.” He claimed.

Ruby laughed. “I’m being selfish?! Let me strap up and do your butt, then maybe I’ll see about letting you return the favor.”

He frowned in disgust. “Fuck no.”

“So, it’s fine for you to want it for me, but not the other way around?” She asked him, looking smug.

“Yeah, because you’re a girl.”

“Way to be a misogynistic fuck boy, Neal.”

“Ruby. Neal. You’re both wanted in the office.” Their art teacher gathered their attention. They looked up front and saw that she had three summon slips in her hand, given to her by Sneezy, who stood next to her.

“What the fuck does Principal Blan-turd want now.” Neal groaned to his girlfriend as they gathered their items and rose from their seats.

“Do you think this is about the Sidney thing?” Ruby asked Neal with a worried bite to her lip. “I can’t get in trouble again. My dad will kill me.”

“The punk better not have snitched, or he’ll get what’s coming to him.” Neal said lowly before they came upon the teacher who handed them their respective slips.

“It’s all over ClapChat. If anything, you snitched on yourselves.” Ruby said.

“Yo, Sneezy. What’s this about, man?” Neal questioned the sophomore who shrugged and says,

“I don’t know. I just hand them out.”

“What good are you in the office if you don’t gather all the gossip?” Neal tells him. The art teacher admonishes Neal. He rolls his eyes and leaves the room with Ruby.

”Belle French is also needed.” Sneezy told the art teacher. “Is she here?”

“She out sick today.” the art teacher informed the teen.

“Oh, okay. Thanks.” Sneezy said before leaving the classroom. He had three more slips to deliver.

FOURTH PERIOD - Snow

Snow is in English when Sneezy enters and hands a summon slip over to Ms. Winters, who tells her to head to the office.

Once she and Sneezy were in the hallway, Snow says, ‘daddy never mentioned anything about wanting to see me. Do you know what this is about?’

With a deep sigh at the common question, Sneezy says no. That he was only the messenger.

Snow noticed that he had two more slips in his hand. She asks who they were for.

Sneezy says Regina Mills and Robin Locksley, before he left her to go deliver the slips.

FOURTH PERIOD - Regina and Robin

Regina is in AP History with Dr. Hopper. Robin knocks on the door and pops his head inside the room, asking the teacher if he could speak with Regina for a moment.

“We’re in the middle of class, Mr. Locksley.” Dr. Hopper said with a disapproving frown.

“I know. I know, but it’s important.” Robin begged.

Dr. Hopper sighed and looked over to Regina and said, “Ms. Mills, do you wish to speak with him outside?”

“Not particularly, Dr. Hopper.” Regina said dismissively, earning laughter and snickers from the listening students. Robin felt embarrassment at this as he knew it would be shared around the school.

“Come on, Regina.” Robin pleaded. Regina rolled her eyes and got up..

“Five minutes,” Dr. Hopper warned them.

“I’ll only need three.” Robin promised as Regina passed him to enter the hallway.

“What are you doing, Robin? You’re supposed to be at lunch.” Regina asked her boyfriend as soon as the door closed behind them. Her arms were crossed, looking exasperated.

“I wanted to talk to you.” He explained himself with a smile he no doubt thought was cute, when really it only served to make Regina even more annoyed.

“I told you I didn’t want to see you right now. Why can’t you ever respect my wishes?”

“I do,” Robin said.

“No, you don’t. You didn’t when I asked you not to pressure me into sex, and you’re not now after I’ve asked for space.” She tells him.

Robin says, “I know, and I respect that you want space, but I just couldn’t let another day go by without being able to explain myself.”

Regina rolled her eyes at his words. Of course, Robin couldn’t. Robin only thought of himself. Forget about what Regina felt. Forget about what Regina wanted. Not when Robin came first.

“First, I want to say sorry for how I acted Friday night. It’s just– I love you, Regina. You know this. But with the both of us leaving soon for college, I wanted to finally have that special moment with you. I know I shouldn’t have pressured you, but can you at least see things from my perspective?”

Here we go…

“We’ve been together for two years, Regina. The fact that we haven’t made love yet has me thinking that maybe you don’t love me on the same level as I do you.” Robin said, his chest puffed up in conviction.

Regina’s eyes narrowed at Robin’s words. “Fuck you, Robin.” The words were nearly spat at the boy, who started at her harsh language. Regina very rarely cursed like that. If she did, then it was best for the other person it was directed towards to immediately run for the hills.

Robin saw no hills.

“Regina,” He tried to save face.

“No! How dare you! How dare you try to make me out to seem as–”

“Umm, is this a bad time?” A voice interrupted the start of Regina’s rant.

Both heads snapped over and towards the voice. It was Sneezy. He had two summon slips in his hand. He looked back and forth between them with bouncing eyes.

“No,” Regina unintentionally snapped at the sophomore. “He was just leaving.” She said before turning to go back inside the classroom.

“Wait!” Sneezy held up one of the yellow slips for Regina to see. “This is for you…Well, the both of you, actually.” Sneezy added as he handed both slips to the seniors, glad that he didn’t have to venture into the cafeteria to give Robin his. “Principal Blanchard wants to see you both in his office.”

Regina frowned at the summon slip in her hands. Only school delinquents received these. She looked up and at Sneezy, but before she could ask her question, he raised his hands.

“And before you even ask; no, I don’t know what this is about.”

Regina sighed before thanking the younger boy, who blushed and said, ‘no problem,’ before leaving the quarreling couple behind. Now that his task was done, he could afford to ‘lallygag’ for a bit.

Regina took off towards the front office, not even bothering to inform Dr. Hopper the change of plans. She could do that later.

Robin followed her. “Regina,” he tried again.

“Robin…”

“Yes?” He replied, hopefully.

“Please, shut the fuck up.”

They walked the rest of the way to the front office in tense silence.

Chapter Text

Emma walked into the front office after being sent there by her teacher. When she goes inside, there is no one there to instruct her on what to do next so she decides to wait in one of the chairs by the door. Not long after sitting down, the front office secretary, Ms. Astrid, returns to the office from her bathroom break. She sees Emma waiting.

“Oh! Emma, honey. Have you been waiting long?” Astrid asked her.

“No, ma’am. I just got here. Ms. Castro sent me here to see Principal Blanchard. I was on my phone during class.” Emma explained.

Astrid gave a disappointed click of her teeth that was accompanied by a small shake of her head and says she’ll see if he’s available to speak with her. Astrid goes behind her desk and calls the man’s office. It could be heard ringing through a nearby closed door.

“I have Emma Swan here in the lobby. Her teacher sent her.” Astrid said as soon as he answered, letting out a few hums in reply at whatever he was saying before she says “Ok, I’ll let her know. Bye.” She hangs up. “He’ll be with you in just a moment. The older woman tells her before returning to her computer.

The door to the office opens. Ruby and Neal walked in with yellow slips in their hands.

“Neal. Ruby. What brings you in?” Astrid asks them. The couple approached the woman’s desk and handed their slips to Astrid.

“Sneezy said Principal Blanchard wanted to see us.” Ruby told the woman.

“Do you know what for?” Neal asked.

Astrid says she does not know, but for them to have a seat with miss Swan and he’ll soon get with them too. Neal lets out an exasperated sigh before doing as instructed.

“Did Sneezy give you a summon slip too?” Ruby asked the blonde.

Emma shook her head. “No. Ms. Castro caught me texting again.”

“Amateur,” Neal snorted. Emma flipped him off.

“What are you guys in for?” Emma asked them.

“We don’t know. All Sneezy said was that principal Blanchard wanted to see us.”

Emma gave Astrid a quick glance before leaning closer towards them to whisper, “Do you think it has anything to do with Sidney?”

“It better not,” Neal growled lowly. “Or he’ll be seeing me again.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “You should just leave him alone, Neal.”

“Fuck no! People will think I’m a cuck if I allowed a loser like Sidney to talk to my girl.” Neal seethed.

It was Ruby’s turn to roll her eyes. “Oh, so you only did it for your own ego and not because he called me a whore?” Ruby asked her boyfriend with a glare. Realizing his mistake, Neal tried to appease his girlfriend.

“You know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t think I do, Gold.” Ruby snapped.

“All I’m saying is,” Emma was quick to jump in before the couple could get into it, “what you and Greg did went way too far. Even worse, it’s all over ClapChat. If Sidney did go to Blanchard, I wouldn’t be surprised. This was bound to come back and bite you in the ass.”

“Whatever, Emma.” Neal tried to seem nonchalant as he shrugged and crossed his arms. “I’ll take the suspension. ‘Means I’ll get to be away from this shit hole.”

Emma scoffed at him. For as long as she’s known Neal (which, admittedly wasn’t for long, having only met him and the others this school year), him and his best friend Greg often found themselves causing trouble, but when it all came down to it, Neal was slow to take accountability for his actions. Him and excuses went hand and hand.

The office door opened again. Snow entered. She also had a yellow slip in her hand. She gave the teen’s a curious glance before strolling up to the front desk to speak with Astrid.

“Shit. Snow has a slip too. This is definitely because of Sidney.” Ruby muttered to Emma and Neal.

“You received one too, Snow?” Astrid asked upon accepting the slip from the girl.

“Yes, ma’am. From Sneezy. He said that my father wanted to speak with me?” Snow said, a hint of question in her voice. 

Astrid gave the slip in her hand a small frown before saying, “Principal Blanchard hasn’t spoken to me about any of this. He must’ve had Thomas deliver them while I was in the restroom.”

Astrid looked at the clock on her desk. “Your father should be done with his call now. Let me peep in and remind him that you guys are waiting to see him.” The woman gets up and goes to the man’s office. She knocks and waits for a response before entering.

Once Astrid disappeared inside the office, Neal turns his attention to Snow. “What’s going on, Snow? Why are you here? You never get called into the office.”

“I’m not sure, but if you and Ruby are here then it could only mean this is about Sidney. You and Greg shouldn’t have gone that far. Now you’ve gotten us all in trouble.” Snow chastised the boy with a light glare and her hands to her hips.

“Yeah, yeah. Emma’s already scolded me for it. I don’t need to hear it from you too.” Neal waved her off. “Besides, it’s not like you have anything to worry about. Not when you’re daddy’s the principal. I’ll probably be fine too with my dad.” Neal speculated. It wasn’t often that he benefited from the ‘my dad works for the school’ card, but in this case, he thinks he might need it seeing as he had been dumb enough to post it on ClapChat.

“And what about me? I don’t have any family that works for the school like you guys! If I get into any more trouble, my dad is going to send me back to 29 Palms to live with him. Him and that fucking place sucks!” Ruby stressed with worried eyes. 

Her father was a Marine officer who was stationed in California at the 29 palms military base, a total shit box of misery and nothingness. The man was strict with his wife and daughter, upholding an oppressive household after spending his day yelling at new recruits. The best thing her father ever did for her was send her to live with her grandmother in Storybrooke after her mother died from cancer during her 8^th grade year. 

However, the man made sure that Ruby knew that if she got into too much trouble, he would have her sent back to live with him. She did good for the most part right until last summer, when the man spontaneously felt the need to visit her after not having done so since she left California. It was bad timing that he walked in on her and Neal having sex in the living room. If Granny hadn’t convinced her father to let her stay, she would be suffering with him right now.

“Even Emma’s foster mom works here. I’m fucked!” Ruby proclaimed dramatically, throwing her hands up in the air.

“Hey, now. I have nothing to do with the cluster you guys created. Leave my name out of this.” Emma was quick to say. “And yeah, you just might be fucked. Maybe if you let him touch your boob or something he’ll forget about talking with Blanchard.” Emma joked with a small chuckle. Ruby glared at her with a light kick to Emma’s leg.

“Don’t worry, Rubes.” Neal began with a possessive pull to her waist, bringing an upset Ruby closer towards him. He gave her an exaggerated and sloppy kiss to her cheek, leaving behind a wet spot. Ruby’s nose scrunched in disgust as she dramatically wiped at her wet cheek. “You’re not going anywhere.” He proclaimed with a charming smile and an amused laugh. Ruby glared at him, though the small smile she was fighting off took away from it.

Principal Blanchard comes out of his office then.

“Good afternoon, students.”

“Hi, daddy.” Snow greeted her father enthusiastically, practically skipping over to stand next to the man who joined them. The other teens stood at his arrival.

“Hello, my dove.” Leopold greeted her in return with an affectionate squeeze to his daughter’s shoulder when she gave him a side hug.

Leopold addressed them all.

“There seems to be some kind of confusion. Barring Miss Swan – who I’ll be having a talk with later,” he said with a pointed look to the blonde teen. Emma sighed in resignation. “, I have no idea why the three of you were sent to my office.”

“The hell? Then what am I here for?” Neal complained.

“Language, Mr. Gold.” the principal admonished. Neal rolled his eyes. “You all say that Thomas sent you the summon slips?”

Ruby, Neal, and Snow voiced their agreement.

“Hmm, that’s not like him. He’s not one for pranks.” Leopold turned to Astrid and told the woman to page Thomas to the office so they could get to the bottom of things.

Astrid nodded. She picked up her desk’s phone, punched in a four-digit code before stating, “Thomas Clark. You are needed in the front office. Thomas Clark. To the front office.” 

Her voice was projected throughout the school’s intercom system for all to hear.

Sidney was just finishing up with chaining and locking all the school’s exits with thick chains, when he hears Thomas’ name being called over the school’s intercom system. Sidney takes that as his signal to begin.

With his Bluetooth speaker strapped to the back of his backpack and blasting Drowning Pool’s Bodies, Sidney begins his mission.

It was fortuitous that the first person to happen upon him was Greg Mendell. The boy was on his way back to the cafeteria after using the restroom.

Sidney did not second guess what was next.

“Gregory,” Sidney called out his name.

The boy turned around with a smirk already in place, having no problem in recognizing the boy’s voice. However, his smirk was quickly wiped from his face when he saw what Sidney held in his hands.

“Oh, yes.” Sidney said with a knowing smirk as he relished in the boy’s wide eyes. He was fascinated by the range of emotions that rapidly took to Greg’s face as the boy registered the situation he was in.

“You should probably run now.”

“Fuck!” Greg cursed before turning to run. 

He did not go far before a lone finger rolled along the trigger.

The door to the front office opens again. This time, Killian and Graham entered to check themselves back into school after returning from their dentist appoint. Following behind them were Regina and Robin.

The half-brother’s join Emma’s side. They dapped her up in greeting before Killian asks, “what’s all this?”

“Drama,” was all Emma said. She was semi-entertained from the scene playing out in front of her. Plus, it delayed the inevitable conversation that awaited her with principal Blanchard.

“Oh, shit.” Robin said upon seeing everyone he knew. “Is this because of Sidney? Because I had nothing to do with that.” Robin was quick to defend himself, conveniently leaving out the fact that he had been one of the ones who later visited Sidney while he was still trapped inside the dumpster.

“You had nothing to do with what exactly, Mr. Locksley?” Leopold asked, starting to feel like he may have gathered a kernel of the reason why they were all in his office.

Neal face palmed while Ruby groaned. Emma, Killian, and Graham snickered in amusement.

Realizing his slip up, Robin says, “Oh! It’s nothing, principal Blanchard. Just a small disagreement, is all.” Both Neal and Ruby were giving him ‘shut the fuck up’ eyes.

“I’m sure.” Leopold droned sarcastically in disbelief. “We’ll just have to wait for Mr. Glass to–”

POP.

POP.

POP.

The sound ripped through the room. Everyone froze where they stood, their bodies tense as their ears strained for any other sounds that would explain exactly what they just heard.

“Holy shit!”
“What was that?”
“Fireworks?”
“No, that almost sounded like–”

Rapid footsteps were heard outside the office as a blur streaked by the hallway windows coming from the left. The door burst open and Sneezy spilled into the room. His face was pale and his hairline sweaty. With wide eyes, he turned to the group.

“Someone just shot Greg Mendell!”

Greg fell forward with a grunt and a thud.

Sidney walked over to stand over him. He probed at his body with his foot. Nothing happened other than the boy’s blood beginning to steadily pool beneath him until it licked the edge of Sidney’s boots.

“Huh,” Sidney said in a curious tone that was accompanied by a slight tilt of his head. He rolled his foot to the side and inspected the blood on his shoe. It glistened under the harsh lights from above.

He had gone down so quickly.

Almost as if a switch had been flipped.

Sidney barely had to strain his finger to do the work. A simple squeeze and then… he was nothing.

Nothing but a dead bully staining the floor red.

“Serves him right.” Sidney said to himself before he left the body at his feet to walk over to the nearby fire alarm. He lifted the plastic casing before pulled down on the lever.

Students filled the hallways.

From inside the front office, Principal Blanchard and the others could hear everything that was happening even through the fire alarm going off. The sounds of gunfire and students screaming was clearly heard in between each loud blare of the alarm.

“Quick, someone turn off the lights!” Principal Blanchard commanded as he rushed forward and locked the office door.

Emma was the first to jump and do as he said, turning off the lights. Once that was done, Leopold then tells everyone to hide in the mailroom since there was no blinds to hide them in the main office.

They do as he says, it would be a tight fit with all eleven of them in addition to the commercial sized copy/printer machine, but it was doable. Once Leopold was sure that everyone was inside, instead of joining them he goes to close the door without entering the room himself.

“Daddy!” His daughter’s pleading voice gave him pause. Her eyes were filled with tears as she looked up to him with fear.

Leopold placed a loving hand to her cheek. He gave her a small smile and says, “I’ll be okay, my dove. The windows in the office are bullet resistant.”

It was not necessarily a lie. Though the windows were thick enough to stop smaller caliber bullets, he was not certain they could stop the rounds coming from the assault rifle the shooter was no doubt using.

“I just need to call 911.” Leopold assured his daughter.

“You can call them from in here! Please, don’t leave!” Snow begged.

“I have to, baby. You know the cell reception is no good in the office. I need to make sure the authorities are aware of what’s going on.” He tells her. “I need you to be brave for me, okay? And stay in this room. Can you do that for me?”

Snow didn’t want to, but she nodded her head before jumping forward to give her father a tight hug. He returned it for a moment, his cheek resting on top of her head like he always did when she was smaller, before he reluctantly pulled back to gently push her back into the room. With a choked sob, Snow let him

“Be careful.” Regina’s voice called from inside the room.

Leopold has been dating her mother, Mayor Cora Mills, for the past year and a half. Just last month they had gotten engaged and planned to move him and Snow into the manor over the summer. Though Regina never really connected with the man outside of him being her mother’s boyfriend, she knew that he cared for her mother. She didn’t want to see him hurt.

Leopold gives her a small nod of his head in return before he closes the door to the mailroom.

Leopold went to Astrid’s desk and picked up the phone. He punched in 911 before crouching down behind the desk so he would not be seen if the shooter happened to look through the office’s hallway windows.

The phone line was busy. Students must already be flooding the line with calls to emergency services. That gave him some hope, yet he stayed on the line. He had to wait for a little while before an operator finally picked up.

“911. What is your emergency?”

Sidney finally reached the front office just as the blaring of the fire alarm ceased. The white panic lights kept flashing intermittently.

Drowning Pool’s song restarted once more.

Looking inside the office windows, Sidney sees that the lights are off and that no one appeared to be inside. However, Sidney was not dumb. He’s been through many active shooter drills to know that there were definitely people inside. They were only hiding from him like scared little mice. He only needed to force them out.

“This is principal Blanchard from Storybrooke high. There’s an active shooting currently taking place at the school. This is not a drill.” Leopold spoke clearly into the phone.

Was that music outside the door? Leopold asked himself. He was too scared to take a peek around the desk to see, but he could just barely make out the muffled lyrics through the pounding drums and guitar. Though, now that he heard more of it, it sounded familiar.

Let the bodies hit the floor.

Let the bodies hit the floor.

Let the bodies hit the floor.

Leopold’s heart dropped.

That…that certainly wasn’t a coincidence.

Sidney slightly turned the knob on the door.

It was locked.

He smirked to himself.

Like all the other locked doors he encountered while carving his way towards the office, this would be no problem.

Leroy’s keys jingled as Sidney unclipped them from his belt loop, the innocent chimes hinting at the impending doom of his arrival.

“Yes, Mr. Blanchard. We have received an influx of calls for the past ten minutes from your staff and students. Local police are already on sight.”

“I think the shooter is outside the door.” Leopold relayed. He was whispering now. His grip tightened around the phone’s handle. He wanted to look over the desk so bad to see what was happening, but he kept himself exactly where he was.

“Are you in a safe location?”

“Me, the secretary, and nine students are in the front office. The door is locked, and I made sure to hide the others away in the mailroom. Are the police planning to make entry soon?”

“Additional officers are currently being outsourced from Hyperion PD. At this time, Storybrooke’s Sheriff’s office do not have enough Deputies to make entry into the school.” The operator informed him. Leopold cursed at the news.

“Hyperion!” Leopold hissed down the line. Hyperion was a larger town that was forty minutes south-west from Storybrooke. “That’s too far! We need help now!”

“I understand, Mr. Blanchard. The Deputies have already tried to enter the school, but the shooter has all exit doors chained off from the inside.”

And with the school being old and having not changed since even Leopold himself went to the school, the front doors weren’t made of glass that the police could break through. Instead, it was made of thick metal with a small rectangular window that would be of no help.

“Storybrooke Deputies found the suspect’s vehicle. What they found raised concerns of potential IEDs at the entryways. Once they arrive, Hyperion SWAT’s EOD technician will need to assess the situation before entry can be made.” The operator broke the news.

The blood drained from Leopold’s face upon hearing that damming information. He began to realize they were all effectively trapped inside with a shooter, just sitting ducks until Hyperion PD arrived to assist the eight men that made up the entirety of Storybrooke’s very small Sheriff’s department.

“Has anyone identified the shooter?”

"And I’ll huff, and I’ll puff,” Sidney muttered gleefully to himself as he finally found the correct key to the front office and slid it into the lock. “And I’ll blow your house down.”

Chapter Text

When Sidney entered the office, it was quiet. 

He scanned the room. His eyes stopped at the front desk where Ms. Astrid worked. He immediately took note of the office phone. The phone itself was missing from its cradle, and the cord was stretched taught, leading all the way down to the floor.

One plus one equaled somebody was behind the desk.

Sidney slowly moved around it to see that it was none other than Principal Blanchard. The man sat on the floor with the office phone pressed firmly to his ear.

Leopold did not say anything as he stared up and at Sidney, taking in the boy’s drastically different appearance.

Sidney had black war paint smeared across his face. It blended in with the two black eyes he had. He wore body armor, camo pants, and the tan boots his father wore during his army days in the military. An assault rifle was slung over his shoulder and a handgun was holstered and strapped to his right thigh.

This is the end!
Here we go, here we go, here we go now.

With a reach back to his Bluetooth speaker, Sidney turned Drowning Pool off.

He could now make out the muffled voice coming from the phone the principal clutched in his hand. There was no need to guess who he was speaking with.

“Hang up the phone, Principal Blanchard.” Sidney told him. His voice left no room for disagreement.

Leopold slowly stood from his spot on the floor and did as Sidney said. With shaking hands, he returned the phone back to its receiver. The clicking of the phone as it returned to its cradle felt like a stab to the gut.

“Sidney, what are you doing, son?” Principal Blanchard finally spoke to his student after a brief silence.

“I’m taking charge.” Sidney smirked. “Now, where are the others? I know they’re here.”

“There’s no one else here but me.”

“Stop lying.” Sidney growled lowly. “I’m not dumb. I know the active shooter protocol. I know what to expect. They’re in here somewhere.”

“Sidney,” Principal Blanchard tried, only to be cut off by the pissed off teen.

Sidney aimed his gun towards the ceiling and let two rounds go. Muffled gasps and shouts of surprise could be heard from behind the mailroom door. 

It was just as he suspected.

“Come out now!” Sidney yelled, his gun now aimed toward the closed door.

The door burst open, and Ms. Astrid and the teenagers spilled out in a single file; more than one person had the backs of their heels stepped on with how closely they were all pressed together.

Sidney takes note of everyone who stood in front of him in a line. A frown took to his face. There were more people here than he was expecting, but he was only concerned about the six he sent Thomas to collect.

Ruby.

Neal.

Mary Margaret.

Robin.

And of course, his love, Regina.

They were all there as expected. However, one of the six was missing.

“Where is Belle French?” He snapped out, looking over and towards Thomas, who quivered under his attention.

“She’s at home sick.” Ms. Astrid informed Sidney, speaking up for Sneezy.

“She chose the perfect day to be sick.” Sidney quipped with a tinge of anger in his voice.

Sidney already planned for the probability of Principal Blanchard, Ms. Astrid, and Thomas as extras. However, what he did not account for was Killian Jones, Graham Huntsman, and Emma Swan being there as well.

He didn’t really know them much and they never bothered him, but they all hung out with the people he hated and that was enough in his book. They will just have to suffer for the sins of their friends. He would just have to make sure he had better control over the larger group.

“Sidney. Think this through, son. What you’re doing right now is not the way.” Leopold tried to reason with Sidney.

Sidney was not receptive.

“You know what, Principal Leopold. You’re pretty terrible at your job. How did you not realize the shit I’ve been put through by assholes like Neal.” He sneered his name while making a point to look at said teen, who didn’t dare meet Sidney’s eyes for long once they were locked. Sidney took pleasure in that. 

He stood up straighter, emboldened by it.

“By the way, Gold. Your friend Greg sucks at running. Maybe I should have thrown him in a dumpster too.” Sidney taunted.

“You bastard,” Neal growled lowly, suddenly finding some courage at the mention of his freshly deceased friend to glare at Sidney. He even took a step towards him before he was held back by Ruby’s tight grip. She gave him a sharp shake of her head along with a pointed look.

“Don’t be fucking stupid.” Ruby said lowly through clenched teeth. Her grip on his upper arm was tight.

“Yes, Gold. Don’t be fucking stupid.” Sidney taunted with a grin.

“Sidney,” Leopold stressed, taking a small step forward in an attempt at bringing the boy’s attention back to him. “I apologize for not recognizing your struggles sooner. If you put the gun down, we can talk things through. We can-“ His voice cracked as it ran dry and the pitch ran higher. He was forced to gulp. “We can fix this.”

Sidney laughed. “I’m afraid we’re way past that now, Principal Blanchard. Students have now died on your watch.” He said with a careless shrug.

A choked sob left Ms. Astrid’s throat. Snow let out a pained whimper as she too began to cry.

“Oh, god.” Regina sounded like she would be sick. Her face was pale, and she reached out to grab onto the nearest person’s arm to steady herself. That person happened to be Emma.

Emma looked at her in concern, allowing Regina to keep holding on to her. She did not ask Regina if she were okay like she wanted to, not wanting to draw attention from Sidney. Instead, she twisted her arm to briefly remove Regina’s hold before capturing the girl’s hand with hers. It was clammy, but Emma held on to it tight.

Regina looked at her with a sheen of tears. She was terrified. Emma gave her a slight nod, her lips trembled as they struggled to form a reassuring smile. Regina returned the nod and forced herself to exhale some of the stress that built within her.

“So, what now?” Neal snapped, already forgetting his girlfriend’s previous warning. “You’re obviously the one who brought us all here, so what do you want? For me to apologize? Is that it?”

“Neal,” Leopold tried, but Neal ignored him along with Ruby’s tugs at his shirt that signaled her anxiety. Regina’s grip on Emma’s hand tightened as tensions rose.

“I’m sorry that you were so desperate for a girl to fuck you that you had to go around begging for it. I’m sorry that you’re so fucking pathetic and can’t handle rejection that you decided to crash out and shoot up the school.” Neal ranted.

He couldn’t seem to control his mouth when all he could imagine in his mind was his best friend, who he has known since elementary, left for dead in the hallway. His chest heaved with barely restrained anger.

“Neal, shut the fuck up man. You’re gonna get us killed.” Killian spoke for the first time when he noticed how his younger brother, Graham, was shaking with fear.

“Neal doesn’t care.” Sidney replied to Killian. Though his eyes never left Neal. “Even at the risk of his friend’s lives, Neal Gold only cares about himself. Isn’t that right, Neal?” He questioned him with a raised brow and a knowing smile.

When Neal finally looked at the others and saw how frightened everyone was – with Snow clutching at the fabric of her father’s suit; Regina gripping Emma’s hand in a vice grip while the blonde took a protective stance slightly in front of her; Robin near cationic as he stood a little off to the side, attempting to make himself invisible while in plain sight by keeping quiet and making no sudden movements – Neal had the decency to feel some guilt.

At that moment, Sidney heard the chopping sounds of a helicopter overhead and realizes that his time there was shortening.

Though, he had prepared for this earlier by putting down a fake bomb at the school’s front entrance and leaving some materials in his car to make it seem like he built a homemade IED. It was sure to buy him some time by making police response slower. Of course, they would eventually realize he used inert materials and would soon enter the school after taking care of the chains, but Sidney planned to be done well before then.

He needed to get things back on track.

“Let’s move things along, shall we?” He told them, raising and pointing his rifle at them, earning more than one flinch. “One at a time. Back into the mailroom.”

It would be where he bunkered down. There were no windows inside for the police to see through when they finally decided to bring out the sniper rifles.

“Regina, sweetheart. You first.” Sidney instructed. His tone was notably different. It was softer and said with reverence.

Regina’s body tensed.

The way Sidney had said her name along with the term of endearment, paired with the way his dark eyes looked at her, made Regina feel sick. And no matter how much her instincts told her not to enter the small room – that it would only bring her death – she had no other choice but to do as he commanded.

When she went to move, she realized that she was still holding Emma’s hand. With a squeeze of her hand and a shared look, Emma reluctantly let her go. Regina entered the room, feeling Sidney’s gaze the whole time she walked. It unsettled her.

The next person Sidney told to enter the mailroom after Regina, was Snow. The girl looked back and at her father fearfully then. The principal gave his daughter a small nod of encouragement along with a gentle push forward.

After her was Robin. Sidney said his name as if he had tasted something sour. Robin grew more pale, but he too, entered the room.

After him was Emma. Once inside the room, she was quick to rejoin Regina’s left side as Robin was to Regina’s right. They all sat on the floor and faced the open door with their back against the wall that held the teacher’s mail cubbies.

Emma watched through the open door as Sidney continued to herd the rest of them into the mailroom one by one. The next to go was Ruby, who entered and chose to sit on the left side of the room, her back against the office printer.

Emma’s eyes moved back to the front office where they fell on Neal. She immediately took note of his odd behavior. The boy was staring at Sidney’s rifle with intensity while his fingers twitched anxiously at his side.

Emma had an eerie feeling as to what Neal was thinking about doing. She was proven correct when just moments later, right after Killian entered the mailroom, and while Sidney was focused on Graham, Neal took it upon himself to charge forward in an attempt to strip Sidney of his gun.

What Neal did not account for was tripping over his feet in the process. Startled by the sudden movement from Neal, Sidney squeezed the trigger of his rifle in a panic and wildly swung it around towards Neal, whose forward movement from tripping brought him to the ground just in time to narrowly miss the bullets that went over his head.

Both Snow and Ruby released screams at the sudden shouts and the subsequent thuds that hit the carpeted floor soon after. Emma, who had somehow found herself protectively shielding Regina’s body, heard the scared whimpers that Regina released into her neck as she held on tight to her body.

“Daddy!” Emma heard Snow scream.

“Graham!” Killian screamed next.

Emma pulled back from Regina and looked through the open door to see that both Snow and Killian had ran out of the mailroom and were back in the front office. Both were kneeling beside their respective family members.

Killian was pressing his hand to his brother’s chest where blood was rapidly seeping through his hands.

Snow was by her father’s side where he lay on the floor and was shaking the man’s shoulder, receiving no response.

He was dead.

Next to Leopold’s body and lying deceased as well, were Ms. Astrid and Sneezy.

Neal took in the scene from on his knees, his mouth slightly agape from shock. He was completely unscathed.

Emma’s body jerked forward, wanting to join Killian’s side as he attempted, with no success, to stop his brother’s bleeding, but a tug on her arm, followed by a pain in her shoulder, held her back.

“You’re hurt.” Regina said lowly with a shaky breath. One of her hands came up to touch just below the growing red stain that was on the front of Emma’s shirt.

With a tug of her shirt and a quick glance over her shoulder, Emma was able to see a matching stain on her back. She must have gotten shot in the back when she shielded Regina from Sidney’s wild spray of bullets.

Now that she was aware of it, Emma began to feel the pain.

“It hurts.” She hissed. Emma looked at Regina and saw that the front of her shirt had blood on it too. “Were you hit too?” She asked in concern.

Regina shook her head no. “It’s yours.” She told the blonde.

“S-someone please help.” Killian choked through his tears.

“I have to help him.” Emma told Regina as she looked towards her two friends. She didn’t know what she could do, but she felt like she had to do something.

Graham lay on his back and was gasping for air while he clutched at Killian’s wrist. Tears rolled from the corners of his eyes as he stared up and at his older brother.

“Please don’t leave me.” Regina pleaded to Emma.

“Regina,” Emma began, conflicted.

“K-Killian.” Graham choked out. “I’m…I’m…I- “

“Graham!”

Chapter Text

“You just had to do it. Didn’t you, Neal?” Sidney talked down to the boy who took in the bodies that now lay dead on the floor. The light blue carpet was now a dark purple – nearly black – from the blood that pooled underneath each victim.

“You just had to go and play the hero. Now look at what you’ve done.” Sidney said with a gesture to the carnage that was caused.

“I-I-” Neal stuttered.

“I-I-” Sidney mocked. “Shut up! You sound dumb.”

“Daddy!” Snow wailed, her fists clutching at the front of her deceased father’s clothes. “You killed him.” Snow said with tear filled eyes to Sidney, who shook his head in disagreement.

“He would still be alive had Neal behaved himself.” Sidney said with no hint of remorse.

This actually made things better for him. He couldn’t have Leopold’s domineering presence in the small mailroom with them. Sidney would have gotten rid of him anyways just before he went to go in, but this was better. It made Neal look even more like the selfish prick that he was. Sidney had no qualms of taking advantage of that.

“I’ll tell you what, Snow. If you want, I’ll kill Neal for you. I mean, it’s only fair. He is the reason why your father is dead right now.” He said as if he were being generous.

At that, both Snow and Neal locked eyes. Neal was the first to look away. He could not bear to hold Snow’s anguished gaze. He would not blame her if she took his offer.

“Well?” Sidney prompted with a raised brow to Snow, who gave him a minute shake of her head.

Killian on the other hand was seething mad.

“I’ll fucking kill you!” The boy cried out while he looked down at his hands which still rested on his brother’s chest that stopped moving just moments ago. 

They were stained red with his blood.

If Killian were talking to Sidney or Neal, none of his friends knew. Sidney, however, wholly believed it was Neal Killian was angry with.

Sidney laughed. “Not too popular now, huh, Neal?” He taunted the pale faced boy with a firm tap of his boot to Neal’s knee cap.

“Even your friends want you dead. Unfortunately, the offer to kill you wasn’t made for him. Though, there will be plenty of opportunities later. My time with you all is not over yet. Back into the room. Everyone.” Sidney snapped suddenly.

With tears falling down her cheeks at the death of one of her best friends, Emma watched as Killian rose numbly to his feet and slowly entered the mailroom. Snow followed him with one last look at her unmoving father.

Neal was still on his knees, frozen.

“You too, Gold. Don’t want you missing out.” Sidney told the teen, who finally climbed to his feet and shuffled into the mailroom where he made his way over to sit next to Ruby, who made it a point not look at him.

Sidney took up the rear, closing the door behind him. The soft snick of the door closing sounded loud to their ears.

They all looked to Sidney, waiting for what was next.

“Phones.” Sidney began. “Take them out and hand them to me.” He commanded them before he went around and took up everyone’s phone. When he got to Regina, he smiled at her with a wink. Regina immediately looked away.

Once all the phones were collected, he placed them all inside his backpack, in which he then placed on the floor next to him. 

He then restarted his music but lowered the volume to allow for talking.

“A little music for ambience.” He explained with a beaming smile to the six teens he now held hostage and at his will. His eyes settled on Robin, who for the entirety of the past events, tried very hard to keep from Sidney’s radar.

Up until now, he had proven to be successful, but now it seemed as if his luck had run out. With them all being there in that small room, four less people than before, there was no more hiding for him.

“Robin.” Sidney addressed him. “You’ve been quiet. What’s the matter? Are you finally realizing that you’re not quite the man you think you are? As much as a nuisance as he’s been, at least Neal can say he had the balls to come at me.” Sidney laughed. “Look at you – all curled up in the corner like you’re scared or something.”

The other’s felt pity for Robin.

“How about this – Now that I have you all here, we can finally take the time to clear the air on a few things. You know, like our own personal Breakfast Club.”

No one said anything.

“Who wants to start us off?…Anyone?”

Again, no one said anything.

“Robin,” Sidney targeted the boy once again. “I’m sure there’s plenty of things you would like to share with the group. Things you would like to share with the lovely Miss Mills.” Sidney goaded with a smile to Regina. It only served to make her feel uneasy, with the specks of blood that mixed with his black war paint that was beginning to smear from the sweat on Sidney’s face.

However, when Robin failed to say anything, Sidney snapped. He rushed across the room, gathering a surprised yelp from Snow at its suddenness, to stand directly beside the sitting boy.

He stared down at Robin, his legs pressing against the boy’s side with the barrel of his rifle hovering close to Robin’s face. Though the barrel of the gun did not touch him, Robin could feel its presence all the same.

Robin’s eyes screwed shut as he curled up even more with his face turned away. A helpless whimper sputtered from his trembling lips. A growing wet spot formed on the front of his jeans.

Sidney immediately took notice. "Did you just piss yourself?”

Robin did not respond. Though, his face developed a deep red hue.

“You did.” Sidney said with disgust that was mixed with amusement. “You know, it took me until today to see just how truly pathetic you, Neal, and Gregory are. But you, Robin – I think you might be the most pathetic of them all.” Sidney declared with a slight smirk. He glanced towards Regina. “Just look at him, Regina."

The brunette did not want to. However, she had no choice but to turn and look at her cowering boyfriend unless she wanted to make Sidney mad.

“This is who you decided to call your boyfriend for the last two years. Look at him. When he is pushed into a corner, this is who he really is. He does not run. He sure as hell does not fight. He just pisses his pants and curls into a ball. This is the kind of man you choose – weak.” Sidney sneered down at Robin.

Robin Locksley was not always Emma’s favorite person. She often found him to be annoyingly arrogant, especially when he would brag about how much money his district attorney father made. Not to mention, Emma held some jealousy towards him due to the relationship he had with Regina.

Even so, Emma could not help but feel pity for the boy who currently had all of Sidney’s cruel attention on him. And all they could do was watch as he was further humiliated

“That’s what’s wrong with women today. You decide to sleep with assholes like Neal and Robin when good guys like me go unnoticed. Well, do you see me now, Regina?” Sidney questioned the brunette. When she did not answer fast enough to Sidney’s liking, he repeated himself.

“Do you?” He said again, this time he made sure to press the barrel of his rifle against Robin’s head.

“Please.” Robin croaked out. It was the first words he’s said since Sidney made entry into the office.

“Y-yes! I see you, Sidney.” Regina told the boy.

Sidney beamed back at her, pleased.

“Good,” he said. “I knew you would.” He turned his attention back to Robin. “Look here, Locksley. I’ll give you a chance to prove yourself. Regina could walk out of this room right here and now if you tell me that you love her. That you couldn’t possibly live without her.” Sidney mocked with a slight roll of his eyes at the thought. “Orrr, you break up with her right now and I’ll let you go free. No tricks.”

Both Robin and Regina locked eyes after Sidney voiced his ultimatum. It was intense, seemingly weighing down the whole room and the others within it.

Emma clutched at her wounded shoulder as she watched. From the way Robin’s red eyes seemed to plead with Regina, along with the slight shake of his head, the blonde already knew which way his mind was leaning.

“Well? What’s it going to be, Locksley?” Sidney prompted. “We’re all waiting to hear if true love truly exists.” He said with a small laugh, as if he already knew what the boy would say.

“B-break up. I’ll break up with her.” Robin stuttered out.

“Don’t tell me that, you idiot. Tell her.” Sidney told him with a wide grin on his face.

“I’m breaking up with you.” Robin addressed Regina. He did not dare to look her in the eyes. Instead, choosing to stare a little off to the side.

“Well, you can’t just break up with her without a reason!” Sidney exclaimed. “Tell her why you’re breaking up.”

Robin appeared slightly confused.

“Don’t play dumb now, Locksley. Go on. Tell her about the cheerleader and the Sherwood Estate.”

The Sherwood Estate was an old, run down manor that used to belong to a wealthy family called the Sherwoods. However, after the last member died in 1982, the estate fell to ruin. Now, it was a place where teens threw parties or went to have sex.

Robin is shocked to hear this. Sidney smirked and took enjoyment at his reaction. “That’s right. I know all about your Sunday nights at the Sherwood Estate. But my Regina doesn’t, so why don’t you fill her in." He prompted.

Robin’s body shook with mounting nerves and his mouth opened and closed like a fish. His eyes were wide as he stared at Regina, who looked back at him with brown eyes that carried less light than what he was used to seeing.

“Tell her!” Sidney yelled, impatient.

Robin jumped. “On S-Sundays, I meet with Marian Stewart at the S-Sherwood Estate to have sex.” Robin quickly sputtered out.

Emma could feel Regina’s hand tighten in her own, but the brunette said nothing in response. Hearing the news of her boyfriend’s unfaithfulness did hurt, but it compared very little to their current situation, that she felt almost nothing when hearing his confession.

“How long, Robin?” Sidney prompted once more. “For how long have you been cheating on the most beautiful girl in this god forsaken school?” Sidney nearly growled.

Emma’s teeth clenched. She wished this creep would stop talking about Regina in such a way. She knew it freaked the other girl out each time he made similar comments.

“A year.” Robin admitted, his eyes cast downward to hide the tears that rolled down his cheeks.

“Hmm, how shitty of you.” Sidney said as a slow grin took to Sidney’s satisfied face. “Alas, I’m a man of my word. Go, Locksley. Before I change my mind.” Sidney told the other boy.

Robin got up from the floor and slowly headed towards the door of the mailroom in which he opened, once again revealing the bodies that still lay motionless just outside. Robin did not look back as he navigated his way past to the front office door.

Sidney followed to make sure the office was locked behind him. However, before leaving the room he made sure to tell the group not to do anything stupid or he’d gladly shoot Robin right in his back.

“We’re all going to die here.” Ruby whispered sorrowfully as soon as they left the room, earning a pained whimper from Snow, whose cries were renewed upon seeing her father’s deceased body again.

Neal attempted to place a comforting hand on Ruby’s thigh, but the girl was quick to move it, causing his hand to drop to the floor. Neal’s heart dropped along with it. Ruby refused to look at him. Neal looked at her with beseeching eyes, his jaw clenched as he attempted to contain his emotions. He too looked away.

“Hey,” Emma snapped in a whisper, making sure to give a quick glance towards Sidney to make sure he was still dealing with Robin, before turning to glare at the goth girl. “Don’t say shit like that.”

“Why not? It’s the truth.” Ruby said. “He has a fucking gun. He’s killing people with it and we’re all just sitting here waiting to be next.”

“We fucking know that, Ruby!” Emma hissed lowly. “But none of what you’re saying is helping anyone right now. Just look at Snow.” Emma told her.

Ruby does. Her energy quickly deflated when seeing the broken girl. Snot was collecting under Snow’s nose, in which the girl did not bother with wiping away. Feeling for her friend, Ruby wiped at the girl’s nose with the sleeve of her shirt.

Snow barely noticed.

“We’re not dead until we’re fucking dead. Until then, chill the fuck out with that shit.”

As soon as Robin entered the hallway and heard the door to the front office close behind him, he picked up his feet and shifted into a power walk. He did not dare look back at the office’s bay of windows. He knew he would only find Sidney’s demonic eyes staring back at him.

He could feel them on him even now.

When Robin finally turned the corner, he allowed himself to break into a sprint towards the front door of the school, only to discover that the metal double doors were locked and chained together.

“Fuck!” Robin cried out in despair. 

He was so close. 

From the small rectangular windows, he could just make out the flashing of red and blue lights of police vehicles from where they were positioned in the front parking lot. It would be some time before law enforcement made their way inside.

Just then, his foot bumped into something. He dragged his eyes down and finally took notice of what looked to be a homemade bomb sitting at the base of the door. Robin’s already pale face became even more ghostly white as he stared at the device that looked like every depiction Hollywood has given of a crudely made explosive ordinance.

Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck.

Robin executed an about face and ran down the opposite end of the hall that led towards the back of the school. Robin wanted to be as far away from the bomb as he could just in case it went off.

As he went down the hall, he passed deceased students that lay motionless on the ground. After recognizing the first few bodies, he kept himself from looking at anymore.

As he went, he jiggled the handles of classroom doors, hoping to find one that was unlocked. Of course, none of them were, nor would they ever open for him with Sidney still haunting the school. A few of the doors even had a spray of bullet holes on the front. Robin could only hope that none of them connected with whoever hid behind those doors.

Robin’s only option at this point was the locker room. That door was absent of locks. It was not the best place to hide, but it would have to do.

As soon as he reached the locker room, the door swung open with force as he rushed inside the dark room to finally escape the hallway that smelt heavily of death. However, no sooner did he make it inside, he was immediately tackled and brought to the ground by a group of unseen people who thought he was the shooter.

Robin, who was already overstimulated and emotionally shot after his time with Sidney, immediately curled up into a protective ball and begged for his life.

“Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!” Robin repeated like a mantra.

“Wait! Wait! Wait! Stop!” One of the boys yelled from over the chaos. “It’s not Sidney! It’s not Sidney!” He informed the others who had Robin pinned to the ground.

Someone’s phone light turned on and was shined into Robin’s face.

“It’s Robin. Get off him!” After those words were said, the weight of the dog pile was removed from him, and he was freed.

“Locksley? Were you just out there? Did you see Sidney? Where is he? Did he leave?” One of the boy’s asked him in rapid succession.

However, Robin was still trapped in his shell and completely out of it. He heard nothing that they said. He only hoped that they would not kill him. After recognizing that he would not be answering their questions, all but one finally left him alone and returned to their previous hiding spots.

“Robin?” Another boy’s voice said as he came closer. “You’re alive! Oh, man. It’s good to see you.” The boy continued. However, Robin had no reaction. He kept to his ball with his eyes squeezed shut.

“Come on, man. You can’t stay out in the open. We need to get to the showers in the back.” The boy said after a few beats where he observed Robin and his uncharacteristic mannerisms. This time the boys voice reached Robin’s ears. It was familiar to him, but he could not place it right now through his foggy mind.

Robin did not move. The other boy took matters into his own hands and hooked his arms under Robin’s arm pits. He dragged Robin to the showers in the back where they were no longer as in the open should Sidney make entry into the locker room.

“…. I saw Greg Mendell, Jacqueline Slater, and a bunch of others in the hallway. They were all dead.” Some of the boy’s words barely registered in Robin’s mind. “Sidney got them. All the classrooms were locked, so me and a lot of the others came in here. No one knows where Snow is, though. I’ve been texting and calling her like crazy, but nothing."

When David yet again did not receive any response from the normally talkative Robin, he became frustrated. Desperate for information on his girlfriend, David slapped Robin out of his fugue state. After he did that, it was as if Robin was jump started back to reality. His eyes became focused once more and he finally took notice of the other boy in front of him.

“David?” Robin said, his voice almost wispy.

“Shit, man. What happened to you?” David asked the other teen, concerned.

“Sidney.” Robin began, his eyes widening slightly as he reached out to grip tightly at David’s arm. “Sidney is the shooter.”

“We know. He’s gone fucking nuts. Probably had enough after that ClapChat video. I told Neal he went too far.” David gritted through his teeth before saying, “Listen, man. I’m trying to find Snow. Have you seen her while you were out there?”

After a few beats, Robin finally tells him. “She’s in the front office. Sidney has her and some of the others held hostage in the mailroom. I was there too, but he let me go.” Robin didn’t dare explain the reasons behind his release, nor would he have been capable of doing so as he began to retreat within himself as he was reminded of his cowardice.

Though, that didn’t matter to David. As soon as Robin told him where his girlfriend was and who had her, without further question, he immediately jumped up and ran out of the locker room.

Robin watched him go, feeling guilt and shame at how easily David had run off to save his girlfriend with no hesitation on his part. While he himself had run far from his, leaving her behind with that gun toting lunatic who has already proven himself to be a killer.

“Fucking coward.” Robin cursed himself with his lips curled back with rising self-hatred.

Once satisfied that Robin was well away from the front office and that the lock was engaged once again, Sidney returned to the mailroom.

“What did I tell you, Regina? Robin is weak. Pathetic. Me, I hold power.” Sidney told her as he holds his rifle out for them to see. That’s when they all finally took notice of the word POWER written on the weapon’s magazine with a silver sharpie.

“I made him quake in fear and piss all over himself like the dog he is.” Sidney added with a laugh.

"Of course he pissed his pants. You had a fucking gun to his head.” Emma, still fresh from her irritation with Ruby, blurted out through clenched teeth.

As soon as the words left her mouth, her own heart dropped, and her body froze with shock.

That had been stupid.

Why did she do that?

All eyes were on her now. Emma could practically feel Regina’s mounting nerves through their connection of grasped hands.

Sidney’s face darkened as he turned his attention to Emma. He slowly moved to stand over her. “I would watch your tone if I were you. You weren’t planned for, but the simple fact that you call Neal and Robin your friends is enough for me to…BOOM!” Sidney shouted suddenly just as he jerked his rifle up and pointed it at Emma.

Emma violently flinched as she turned her face away from the muzzle, her eyes screwed shut and her breath sporadic as she braced for the end of her life.

Her shoulder throbbed angrily along with her racing heart.

Ruby and Neal both held their breaths in preparation for the worst, while Snow, slapped her hands over her eyes, not wanting to see another person she cared about die in front of her.

With a frightened whimper, Regina’s grip on Emma’s hand became vice like. Its strength anchored Emma to reality and to the fact that she had not yet died.

Sidney laughed mockingly at everyone’s reactions. “Two for flinching.” He told Emma before proceeding to hit her twice in the face with the butt of his rifle. The second hit split her eyebrow open, causing blood to gush out.

“Sidney!” Regina suddenly gasped the boy’s name, bringing his attention away from the dazed and bloodied blonde. Sidney turned to face the brunette. “You’re an intelligent man, Sidney. W-why are you doing this?

“Intelligent.” Sidney repeated in an even tone. “Is that all I am to you, Regina? Am I not also honest? Am I not helpful? Am I not handsome?”

Regina couldn’t say much to that. Outside of school, she did not speak with Sidney. She knew nothing significant about him.

Sidney snorted in annoyance at her silence.

“Regina, sweetheart. The very fact that you can only describe me as intelligent, is the very reason why I am doing this. You only started seeing me today, but I’ve noticed and loved you for years. And during that time, I had to stand by and continue to go unseen by you. To be overlooked and unconsidered by you for people like Robin Locksley. I’ve come to realize that you don’t want an intelligent partner. You want a man of strength and power to stand by you. To protect you.

“Well, that’s exactly what this is, Regina. This is me showing you that I am that strong man you desire. I am no longer that loser who has always stood outside your radar. I have power now. Power that even you can’t overlook…and you see me now, don’t you Regina? You said it only moments before.” Sidney said to her, almost taunting the girl he claimed to love.

Regina went pale. She felt like throwing up. Was he really doing all of this for her attention?

Was all this her fault?

“This isn’t power, you fucking psycho.” Emma gasped from where she lay bleeding from her wound. During his rant, Killian had subtly inched closer and handed Emma his black handkerchief that had a white pirate’s skull on it. She had it pressed to her head.

“If anything, I’d say this makes you look weak as fuck.” Emma spat out with a slight chuckle.

“Emma,” Regina said to her in warning, noting the way Sidney’s eyes narrowed and the way his grip tightened on his rifle.

"No! Fuck it – he wanted the Breakfast Club? Well, he’s about to get it.” Emma snapped.

“This fucking guy comes in here and thinks he’s fucking god or something!? When really, he’s just a fucking coward. Instead of nutting the fuck up and punching Neal in his fucking face or asking Regina out like a god damn normal person, you decided to shoot up the school. None of this is about us. You just wanted to kill innocent people to keep from feeling like the small boy that you are. You’re a fucking monster who has always wanted to seem bigger than he ever was or ever will be."

Once Emma was done with her rant, her chest heaving with adrenaline, both her and Sidney stared off with one another. Everyone else in the room was quiet as they watched and waited to see, with bated breath, as to what the unhinged teen would do.

Sidney once again pointed his muzzle at Emma, only they weren’t all sure that he wouldn’t pull the trigger this time. Emma wasn’t sure either when she took in his dark, furrowed eyes and the way they glared at her. There was no empathy in his eyes, only contempt. His body trembled in rage.

“You insolent little, bitch. You think you can just talk to me like that!” Sidney shouted. “Do you not understand the danger you are in! I hold the power! Not you. I do!” He seethed through gritted teeth.

Emma did not take her eyes from the raging boy. She kept staring straight at him, chin raised. Her armpits stung with sweat and her nerves were fried, but her courage stood strong.

“Then do it, little man.” Emma baited with a slight smirk of her trembling lips. “Prove me right. Show me how much of a monster you are.”

However, before Sidney could do anything he is interrupted when a pair of fists banged on the front office’s locked door.

Sidney’s body froze before he briefly turned his attention away from Emma and towards the front office, before bringing it back.

“Don’t you dare move.” He warned the blonde before leaving them all behind in the mailroom.

Emma immediately heaved a giant breath of air she had not realized she had been holding in. Her heart felt like it would beat from her chest.

Regina scooted closer to Emma and immediately slapped her shoulder, causing Emma to grunt in pain as that was the shoulder she had been shot in.

“Sorry!” Regina was quick to apologize, having not thought the slap through, though she does not lose her anger when she says, “You deserve it though. What the fuck is wrong with you? Stop antagonizing Sidney before he kills you too."

“I really want to follow your advice, Regina. Really, I do. But at the moment, my mouth keeps moving before my brain registers what the fuck is going on. Probably from all the blood I’ve lost.” Emma snorted in slight amusement.

Regina did not find shit funny.

At first, Sidney was scared that it might have been the police. But when he stepped into the front office, he saw that it was David Nolan, Mary Margaret’s boyfriend.

As soon as David saw Sidney through the window, David punched at the window over Sidney’s smirking face in an attempt to break through.

“Let Snow go; you deranged fuck!” David raged.

Upon hearing her boyfriend’s muffled voice, Snow perked up and crawled across the room to the edge of the doorway to cautiously peak out and into the front office, ignoring Ruby’s mutters of protest. She could see him through the windows of the office. Snow’s crying renewed with a vengeance.

“Ooo, such big words for a brute.” Sidney laughed at David’s futile attempts at punching through the thick glass. “I don’t think I will, Nolan. You’ll have to come in and get her yourself.”

“I wish he would just fucking kill us already.” Killian muttered darkly. All eyes, but Snow, who was enraptured by what took place outside the room, turned to him, shocked by his words.

"If one more person talks about dying, I’m going to lose my shit.” Emma huffed angrily as she glared at her best friend. Regina glared at her again but nonetheless gave her a supportive squeeze of her arm. Emma looked into brown eyes that begged her to calm down. Emma blew out another shaky breath before nodding to Regina.

She refocused her attention to Killian. “Come on, man. You don’t mean that." Emma said firmly to her best friend, who looked to her with haunted eyes.

“I do. He killed my brother. What’s the point. I’d rather he just kill me now instead of subjecting me to any more of his fucking villain monologues. When he comes back, I’m going to tell him to just shoot me. ’Seemed to almost work for you.”

Emma released a deep sigh at his words. “I was stupid for doing that. I wasn’t thinking. I already lost one friend, Killian. I don’t want to lose another…Graham wouldn’t want you to die either…Just think of August – your mom. You have to be there for them.”

At the mention of his family, Killian seemed to gain a little more light.

“We should have gone home.” Killian said lowly to himself, but Emma heard and immediately deflated at his words. Guilt sat heavy on her chest.

He was right. Neither Killian nor Graham should have technically been here. They were both given permission by their mother to stay home after their dentist appointments. The only reason why they had come back to school at all was because Emma had begged them to.

And now Graham was dead because of it.

Emma clinched her eyes shut tight in a poor attempt at keeping herself from crying. Regina squeezed her hand. She opened her eyes. Brown stared back.

“Are you ok?” Regina asked her.

“No,” Emma croaked.

“Just give it up already, Nolan. You’re not getting through that.” Sidney laughed again as he watched how David tried and failed again and again to smash through the thick glass with a fire extinguisher he retrieved from the wall. The footballer only succeeded in making a tiny crack that did not give under his constant assault.

When Sidney finally became bored with his attempts, Sidney threatens to shoot Snow if he did not run along. He makes a point to draw David’s attention to the floor, where Snow’s father lay dead.

“Do you want to be responsible for wiping out an entire family line.” Sidney asked the blonde boy with a raised brow in challenge.

At that, David finally leaves, but not without yelling out, “Snow! Stay strong! The police are outside! I told them you and the others were in there!”

Sidney did not like that.

In response, Sidney shot a few rounds into the window and towards David, who ducked and ran off down the hall until he disappeared. Large cracks appeared around each bullet point, but still, the window did not shatter. Whoever manufactured the office’s thick, bullet resistant windows did an amazing job.

Snow, not being able to see what happened, assumed the worst. “No! Davidddd!” She wailed as violent sobs racked her body.

“About time.” Sidney muttered sourly and was about to head back into the mailroom when the office phone rang.

He paused, letting it ring until it stopped. However, there was barely a pause before the phone rang again. Sidney cautiously moved to the phone and answered it. Though, he said no words.

“Hello?” A man’s voice says after a prolonged silence.

Sidney stayed quiet.

“Sidney?” The man guessed, effectively shocking said boy.

“Who is this?” Sidney finally spoke, sparing a brief look back into the mailroom to make sure nothing suspicious was going on with his hostages.

“Sidney, my name is Detective Parker. I’m a hostage negotiator for the Hyperion Police Department.”

“Hyperion Police Department?” Sidney repeated.

If they were already here, then that meant his time was running short.

Sidney turned his attention to what used to be Ms. Astrid’s computer. He took hold of its mouse and shook it, waking it up. Thankfully, the woman could never remember her password and would always leave it unlocked for easy access.

Sidney pulled up Google and typed in, Storybrooke Shooting.

“Yes, sir. And as I understand it, you have eleven hostages trapped inside the front office with you. Is that correct?” The negotiator asked.

“Six now.” Sidney updated him while he clicked on the first link that popped up from his search.

It took him to a national news channel. There, on the front page of the site and directly under a red banner with white lettering in all caps that screamed breaking news, was live video of the outside of Storybrooke High.

It was an aerial shot. Likely from the helicopter Sidney had heard earlier. Right now, it showed the top of the school. Sidney could not hear what was being said, as the volume was down, but he imagined that they spoke of him.

A small burst of exhilaration sparked within him. His lips twitched slightly upward.

There was a brief pause before the negotiator spoke again. “Sidney, I’d like for us to end things with you and the other six alive and well.”

Sidney snorted at that. “Sure. I’d be alive, but definitely not well. I’d be in prison.”

“Your parents would still have their son.” The man told him, giving Sidney pause. Noticing that, the negotiator continued. “In fact, I have them right here next to me, Sidney. We brought them straight here from the airport. Would you like to talk to them? They would like to talk with you.”

“No,” Sidney was quick to say.

He had no desire to speak with his parents. He did not want to hear their voice or listen to what they would say. He knew that if he did, he would hear their disappointed and emotional pleas for him to stop, and he could not have that now. He could not afford to become weakened at their words.

Just then, the aerial view changed over to a camera on the ground. It now faced the front of the school where a team of men and women, all donned in SWAT gear, waited a distance away. Sidney squinted as he attempted to figure out just what they were waiting on, when he saw it.

At the front doors of the school, there was an EOD robot. One robotic arm kept the metal door open as far as the chain allowed it to go. The other arm was in between the small gap and presumably analyzing the fake bomb Sidney had put down.

That was not good.

Not good at all.

“What are they doing?” Sidney asked the negotiator as his heart picked up in his chest.

"What are who doing, Sidney?" The negotiator asked.

Sidney did not reply. His attention was solely focused on the door that just opened on the side of the SWAT van. Another full kit wearing SWAT member, presumably the robot’s operator, gave his team a thumbs up before the EOD robot began to make its way back towards the van.

“Sidney?”

Not long after that, the SWAT team formed up in a box formation as they began to make their steady walk forward towards the front doors.

What concerned Sidney the most was what the man in the second row and on the outer left, carried. It was a ramming device.

They had figured out that the bomb he placed was inert and were now on their way to kill him.

“Sidney? Are you still with me?” The negotiator tried again.

“Tell them to keep the fuck back!” Sidney suddenly yelled out in fear.

“There’s no one–”

“Liar! I’m watching everything live! I can see those SWAT guys on their way here. Call them back.”

“Sidney, those guys aren’t for you. They’re only making entry so that the students who are trapped inside can exit. There are a lot of your peers in there who need medical attention.”

“Do you think I give a fuck about my classmates? If their name isn’t Regina Mills, then they can all go fucking die for all I care.” Sidney gritted through his teeth and into the phone, his grip tight on the plastic handle. “And I’ll be sure to kill more of them if one boot steps foot into this school. So, call them off. Call them off, now.” Sidney raged.

After that, a period of silence ensued.

The negotiator must have relayed the message at some point because Sidney saw the SWAT unit abruptly halt all further movements, before they turned around to head back towards their van.

“Okay, Sidney. Okay. I’ve called them off for now, but I can’t hold them back for long. We need to come to some sort of agreement here. I would like to see you walk out of this alive. Your parents would–”

At yet another mention of his parents, Sidney immediately slammed the phone down back to its receiver.

With one hand on his head, he began pacing.

It was over.

His time was up.

“What’s he doing?” Neal asked those who were closer towards the door.

Emma, whose shoulder was really starting to bother her, rolled her head to the side from where it rested against the wall and looked outside the door.

“Pacing.” She answered him, her tone almost sounding bored.

Neal released a deep sigh. “Guys. I fucked up bad before, I know that.” He began, his voice low so Sidney couldn’t hear. Thankfully, that stupid fucking song Sidney left on to torture them with provided a bit of a sound buffer.

“I never meant to get the others killed.” Neal continued with a tearful choke. He looked to Snow and Killian as he said this, almost seeming to beg for forgiveness with his eyes. “But we need to do something. Otherwise, we’re all dead for sure. We’re only stronger together.”

“Ok. Change of plans.” Sidney said as he stormed back into the mailroom. “As I’m sure you’ve all heard, the police are currently outside and my time with you all – as enjoyable as it’s been – is soon coming to an end. That leaves me with a choice to make – whether or not to let you all live." Sidney grinned, his arms spread wide, while his rifle hung down the front of his torso from its sling.

“But of course, I’m a generous man. As proven by my word kept with Robin, I can be persuaded to spare all your pathetic lives if my sweet Regina agrees to have sex with me.”

Regina immediately tensed up as all eyes fell on her. She unconsciously closed her legs. Emma, on the other hand, raged.

“I think the fuck not.” She growled at the shooter as she slowly left the floor to come to a stand on wobbly legs, either from blood loss or nerves. Sidney’s narrowed eyes followed her the whole way.

“You know, I’m starting to get real tired of you.” Sidney told her through his teeth as he returned both of his hands back to his gun, “Sit the fuck back down before I make you. Permanently.”

“Emma.” Regina attempted, but Emma ignored them both.

Emma’s eyes caught Neal’s from the other side of the room. The boy watched the scene in front of him just as tensely as everyone else in the room, but when he took in the way that Emma kept looking at him, her gaze hard and her jaw set with determination, it was as if he could hear her voice in his head.

He gave her a firm nod in response to her unspoken message. And with that, Emma’s eyes trailed back to Sidney.

“You’re a real fucking creep.” She told him. "Go kill yourself already – like the weak little boy you are. All your other school shooter buddies do it. Don’t hesitate in joining them.” Emma smiled mockingly at him.

Sidney took an angry step forward. “You fucking dare t–”

“I’ll do it,” Regina way quick to interjected as things became more precarious, bringing Sidney’s attention away from the blonde. Regina stood up from her place on the floor and took a small step closer to the shooter.

“Regina, no!” Emma protested. Her injured arm shot out to block Regina from taking another step forward. She ignored the burning pain the action caused.

“It-It’s fine.” Regina told the girl with tears filling her eyes and a dry gulp. “I-I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me.”

Emma kept shaking her head no. “You don’t have to do this. Don’t let that freak rape you.”

“Rape! I would never rape the love of my life!?” Sidney snarled, enraged.

“That’s exactly what you would be doing, you fucking rapist. You think she wants this!? She’s only saying yes because you’re leaving her with no choice.”

“Emma! Stop! I said it’s fine. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. Not on my account. No more deaths. Please.” Regina pleaded.

Both girls shared a long look.

Regina’s brown eyes pleaded with the blonde’s storming blue – both were shrouded with unshed tears. Regina’s from sorrow and Emma from immense frustration.

“You protected me. Now let me protect you.” Regina said just loud enough for Emma to hear.

“Please, Regina. Not like this.” Emma begged.

“She’s already told you multiple times, Swan. She wants to be with me on her own free will, so I suggest you move back before I amend my promise.” Sidney told the blonde with a lecherous grin.

Seeing that pissed Emma right the fuck off. “What was it that you said before? Oh, that’s right. I hold the power. Now Neal!”

No sooner did Emma say that, Neal, who unbeknownst to Sidney, had slowly stood up and cautiously moved to stand behind the distracted Shooter, grabbed the boy from behind and threw himself backwards to the floor, taking Sidney with him.

Emma was the next one to pounce on the killer. She jumped on top of Sidney, who had grabbed hold of his rifle and attempted to raise it to his aide. Emma was quick to force the weapon back down towards the ground and to the side, but not before he was able to squeeze a few rounds out, earning screams from both Snow and Regina, who was scared for the blonde.

Whether Emma got hit or not, she did not know. Nor did she react. All she cared about was ending it.

“Someone grab the rifle!” Emma yelled out once Neal, who was struggling to keep Sidney contained with Emma’s added extra weight on top, was able to free the sling from around the shooter’s neck.

At this point, Ruby rushed over to provide her help. She scooped up the rifle and quickly moved away from the commotion. “I got it!” She announced. Her eyes were wide, and she sound completely out of breath as she held the murder weapon awkwardly in her hands.

“Nooo! I’ll fucking kill you!” Sidney spat as things were quickly falling apart around him.

“Not before me.” Emma promised through gritted teeth as she glared down at Sidney.

Desperate, Sidney’s right hand reached down and to the handgun that the others forgot was holstered at his hip. Emma noticed too late. He was able to remove the gun from its holster and shot Emma in the stomach.

The blonde grunted in pain.

“Emma!” Regina cried out from where she stood off to the side. Without thinking, Regina rushed over and kicked Sidney hard in the head, stunning him.

With Sidney stunned, Emma was able to pry the gun from his hand and turned it towards him. Her finger found itself in the trigger well and squeezed. She did not stop until she felt Sidney’s body go limp underneath her.

Emma stared down at Sidney. The boy’s eyes were wide in shock, and his pupils shook rapidly until it suddenly stopped. A glassy look took over and a single tear slowly rolled from the corner of his eye.

Everything was still

Everything was silent.

And then, everything was black.