Chapter 1:

The snow was falling heavy and of course tonight would be the night that she was late for work. Every time she felt that she was making headway in clearing the snow off her yellow bug another layer of snow would fall on it, undoing all the progression she'd made. It was essentially a lesson in futility. As she continued to attempt to get the snow off her car she heard voices in the distance, although they appeared to be coming closer. Over the sound of the howling wind she could just barely make out voices so she carefully moved in the direction of the sound of the voices. It wasn't the safest neighborhood to be playing around in and even though she was trained to take care of herself she didn't really want to have to fight off a predator in the slick snow. As she rounded the corner, making sure to stay hidden, she saw a man with stringy graying hair holding one of her neighbors by the collar, screaming in his face. She didn't know him well. On occasion she'd arrive back at the apartment complex at the same time as his girlfriend and they would exchange pleasantries. For this reason she knew that his name was Bobby, and his girlfriends name was Belle. Beyond that though she just knew that he seemed to work nights and he had clearly upset the man who was currently attacking him. "Did you really think you would get away with stealing my woman boy? That woman is mine and I won't have a wet behind the ears boy like you taking her away from me."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Belle and I have been together for months. I knew that she had been seeing some guy before me but she said that he hit her so she left him. If that's you then maybe you should have tried not putting your hands on her. She may have stayed with you then."

"Don't tell me what to do with my woman. She can leave when I say she can leave. Do you really think that I would just let her go because she was too much of a baby to handle me? That woman was always too sensitive. Always whining about how she didn't like things I did. She's lucky that she had me to toughen her up. No one wants a woman who he has to walk on tiptoes with. If she's any kind of woman it's because of me and no other man is going to reap the benefits of my hard work. Not now and not ever. Do you understand? Leave her alone."

"She lives with me. We've been together for three months. She chose me, not you. You're just going to have to deal with that because I'm not letting her go until she says she wants to leave." Emma watched in horror as the man reached into his belt and pulled a silver blade from a pouch fastened there. She wanted to call out. She wanted to warn him but before she could the man had plunged the blade into Bobby's chest. Bobby staggered back as the man ripped the blade from his chest, only to plunge it in once again. She watched him over and over thrusting the knife into her neighbors chest and finally she saw Bobby slump over, the life leaving his body. She stepped back behind the corner just as the man turned to make sure that his horrific act hadn't been witnessed and then he ran off. She reached into her pocket, finally able to think again, and dialed 911. "How can I help you?"

"I need someone to come quickly."

"What's wrong miss? I need to know your emergency."

"A man was just stabbed in the parking lot at my apartment complex. Please, come quick. I don't think he's alive."

"Can you please tell me your address?" She tried to think but her mind wouldn't form a thought. Finally she managed to think of at least the name of the complex. "Ruby Townhomes. We're on Grimm Drive."

"Are you near him? Can you check to see if he's breathing?"

"He was stabbed. I'm scared to go over there. The guy who did it didn't see me..." She had started crying, the shock finally beginning to wear off. "That's fine. You don't need to go over there. I've already alerted a unit and an ambulance and they should be there in just a few minutes." After a couple more moments talking to the operator Emma hung up the phone waiting for the police to arrive. She didn't have to wait for very long. Within five minutes of making the phone call she heard sirens approaching from a distance. She was shivering, but she was no longer sure whether it was from cold or from the horrific scene that had played out in front of her. She pulled her coat close around her, eyes trained on the lifeless body across the parking lot. Part of her wanted to go to him, to sit with him. No one deserved to die the way he had. Stabbed and left to bleed out in the snow. It was beyond brutal. Yet she knew that if she approached him and his killer were to reappear that she too would be killed. She couldn't help him but perhaps she could help bring his attacker to justice. At least that's what she told herself. "Miss?" She jumped, the voice pulling her out of her terrified thoughts. Looking up at the sound of the voice she saw a blonde man with kind eyes looking down at her. "Are you okay miss?"

"There's a dead man over there." She gestured in Bobby's direction, unsure of how to behave in this situation. Her brain didn't seem to be connecting her thoughts and everything felt far away and distant. "Yes miss. There is. The paramedics are just behind us and they'll take care of the victim."

"He's dead."

"I understand. But they still need to check. Can you tell me what you saw?"

"I was cleaning off my car and I heard yelling. I didn't want them to see me because sometimes it gets a little shady around here. Not this shady usually but I still didn't want to get hurt so I stayed hidden. They were fighting about Bobby's girlfriend."

"Do you know what her name is?"

"Belle. Belle French."

"Do you know why they were fighting about her?"

"The guy said he used to date her and he was mad that Bobby was dating her now."

"Do you know his name?"

"No. I barely knew Bobby. He was just a neighbor." At that moment the paramedics arrived and rushed over to the body. For the time being the spotlight was removed from Emma but as she guessed it was too late to help Bobby. Everything moved at both the speed of light and in slow motion from there. She was taken inside to warm up and her statement was taken over and over. More than once she felt like she was going to be sick if she had to relive the details of that awful moment one more time but then she thought about him bleeding out, the snow turning red beneath his body, and she knew that she would relived it as many times as it took to find the person who did this to him. Three hours after she was set to be at work her cell phone rang and she was pulled from the dramatic events of the evening and brought back to reality. "Emma."

"Where are you Emma? Your shift started two and a half hours ago. It's not like you to just not show up. Is everything okay?" Emma was stunned at the concern she heard in her employers voice. She was certain that most people had bosses who would just call to fire them or at least chastise them. Hers was just filled with concern for her. "I'm so sorry Granny. I didn't mean to not show up. Something bad happened and I've been dealing with the police for the last two hours. I should have called."

"Are you okay Emma? You weren't hurt were you?"

"No." The cop gestured to her to stay quiet and she took that to mean that he didn't want her revealing the details of the events that had played out that evening. "I can't really say much. The police want what happened quiet." She looked to the officer for confirmation and he nodded, a small smile playing on his lips but deep sadness in his eyes. "As long as you're alright that's all I need to know. Will you be in tomorrow?"

"I don't know. That's up to the police." The silence following the statement was loud. Emma wasn't completely sure that her entire life hadn't just changed. In all honesty she wasn't sure how what she had just witnessed could not change everything about her. She never never been sheltered. In and out of foster homes she had never been wanted and so she was never close to people. Still in the past few years she had developed connections and put down roots. Now she was afraid that she was going to have her hard fought for life ripped from her through no fault of her own. "Be safe Emma Swan. No matter what you stay safe." Granny hung up the phone at that point and Emma looked back to the officer. "I never got your name."

"My name is Officer Nolan. But you can call me David. Can you come with me to the station Emma?"

"Am I a suspect? I told you that I barely knew him. I had no reason to want him dead. And I'm not strong enough to do that to him." Tears flowed down her cheeks and exhaustion was starting to set in. It had only been a couple of hours but the emotional toll was already bearing down on her. "You're not a suspect Miss Swan. We've already got a suspect in mind and we're going to tell you about him but we need you to come down to the station to take a look at some photos." She nodded and followed him to his car, falling asleep nearly as soon as she sat down.

Two hours later she sat in a room alone gazing into a two sided mirror. She had seen enough of them on TV crime procedurals that she knew that it wasn't just there so that she could fix her hair. Even if it had been her hair was the last thing on her mind. She had been left twenty minutes earlier and she was starting to get anxious. Even with Officer Nolan's assurance that she wasn't a suspect she couldn't help but think that perhaps he was just trying to trip her up. Finally the door opened and Officer Nolan walked in with another officer. "Miss Swan. This is Officer Nolan, my wife. She'd like to show you some pictures if that's alright with you." Emma nodded as she wrung her hands, red rimmed eyes barely taking the woman in. She was short with a pixie haircut and at first sight Emma knew that she would be okay with her. She was someone that she could trust. "Miss Nolan do you consider me a suspect?I know your husband said he didn't but I don't think you would lie to me."

"No, Miss Swan. You're not a suspect. We've got you in here because you're our primary witness. I'm going to show you some photos and I want you to tell me if any of them are of the man you saw attack the victim."

"Okay." She looked down and Officer Nolan set five black and white photos down in front of her. She searched through them and at first she didn't think he was there but when she took a second look she saw his stringy hair and that void look in his eyes. She had no doubt that the man in the photo was the man she saw kill Bobby. "It's number four." Officer Nolan picked up the photos and shot a look at her husband that struck fear down Emma's spine. For some reason she didn't feel as though she had just made everything better, but infinitely worse. They stepped out of the room and once again she was left alone with her thoughts. She knew they were outside the door discussing the selection she had made and for some reason she couldn't pinpoint she felt as if everything she knew was about to be turned on its head. Five minutes later the door opened again and only David walked in. "Well Emma. It's been a stressful night and I'm sure you want to know what's going on."

"Yes. That would be nice."

"When you mentioned Belle French and said it was her ex that stabbed the victim you have us a great starting point. It didn't take very much to run her background and we found out that she had filed a restraining order after a domestic violence charge against a Robert Gold. We looked into him and he's a local pawnbroker."

"So that's it? You'll bring him in?"

"Unfortunately it's not as simple as all that. Robert Gold is a pawnbroker who has a long history of arrests with no convictions. His lawyer, Regina Mills, is a shark and she has been able to get him off on practically every charge imaginable. Murder, kidnapping, money laundering, racketeering, transporting drugs with the intent to sell, and several other crimes."

"How does he keep getting away with it?"

"His pawn store is a front for the mafia. He's tricky and, along with his lawyer, great at finding loopholes to exploit. There's also been instances of witness tampering, coercion, and on occasion murders to get rid of witnesses. It's much bigger thing than Robert Gold. He's their front man so whatever mess be makes they'll clean up because he's ruthless." A shiver ran down Emma's back as he spoke, fear invading her bones. This wasn't just your run of the mill scumbag. He was dangerous and he had dangerous friends that would protect him. "I take it from you telling me all this that the man I identified is Robert Gold?"

"Correct."

"And now I'm in danger?"

"Unfortunately yes. You are. Should you be willing to testify in his trial you would be our chief witness for the prosecution. Because of that you'll have a target on your back."

"And if I won't testify?"

"Unfortunately I'm afraid it won't matter. For a couple reasons. If you don't agree to the testify it's likely that the district attorney would subpoena you and force you testify. If you resisted you would simply be categorized as a hostile witness. That's not the primary reason though. The primary reason is that he's probably already aware of you and is looking to eliminate you. He's a career criminal. My guess is he had eyes and ears on the scene of the crime and they're already working on getting to you." She took a sharp breath in at his direct words. How was it possible that just a few hours before she was going to work and now she had a target on her back from a mob front man? "So what do you suggest I do then?"

"I recommend witness protection."

"You've got to be kidding me. That's not something that people really do? Right? I mean, I thought that was just in the movies or on TV."

"I assure you it is a real thing, although I would imagine that it's different than the way it's portrayed by entertainment."

"So what does it involve?"

"It's not an easy thing. I mean you've got about twenty four hours to make a decision, so unfortunately not much time to make that decision. We can find a way to get a few of your loved ones to you to say goodbye but it is generally for life. Especially given his connection to the mafia even if we manage to neutralize him as a threat there's still his associates to take into consideration. So if you do this it won't be until the trial ends. It will be forever."

"Lay it out for me in detail."

"Because of the defendant and his connections we'll be using satellite technology for your testimony. When Robert Gold is arrested, and he will be, we won't bring you back to Storybrooke. We'll have you taken to a secure location and have the prosecutor as well as the defense attorney exam you in a nondescript room so that anyone viewing the testimony won't have any idea of your location. However it will be a live feed so that the lawyers can cross examine you and still use proper proceedings like objections, etc. You'll be given a new identity for when you're in public. You can still go by your given name in your home but you'll need to be sure that you never slip up. You'll have to answer your phone, answer questions, sign your name, and everything else with the name that you choose."

"And I'll be alone?"

"That's the thing. It's not really safe for you to go into this alone. We'll do everything to keep you safe but putting a single woman into the witness protection program could choose to be very challenging, as well as very isolating for you. So we are trying to find alternative solutions to you being alone. If I'm being honest though I can't say that I think any of them are going to be particularly appealing to you."

"Do I have to do this?"

"Naturally you have free will but I have to be honest with you. There's only so much that we can do to protect you if you don't. It's your safest bet."

"I need to see Granny and Ruby. Granny owns Granny's Diner on 5th Street. They're the only family that I have. I need to tell them goodbye."

"We can have that arranged but I do need to caution you that you can't tell them much of what's going on."

"I'm going to disappear for the rest of their lives and I can't tell them why?"

"Unfortunately yes. I can't see why anyone would find out they were connected to you but if someone did happen to find out then we don't want them to know anything that they can accidentally slip. It's safer for them and for you."

"Fine. I get that." She looked down at her hands, clasped together on the table. In just hours her world had been turned on its head and now she was going to be separated from the small family that she had created for herself. Tears slid down her cheeks but the moment she felt them she brushed them away. She would cry. She was sure of it. But it would not be here and it would not be now. Now it was time to focus on the matters at hand. The sentiment would have to wait. "How do I explain to two people that are coming to see me at a police station that I'm leaving, never coming back, and that they're never going to hear from me again? Sounds an awful lot like the witness protection program to you doesn't it?"

"We've thought of that. Mary Margaret, my wife, is in the process of having a room at the hotel down the block arranged. We can't risk Gold and his friends seeing us escort you so we're going to put you in a transport van that is set to go to the women's penitentiary tonight. We only have one woman being transported, a woman named Zelena. She's not a threat to you. Her crime was trivial compared to what you witnessed this evening. The van will stop in front of the hotel, there's a stop light there, and you will be rushed into the building. We'll keep you there until we move you for your permanent location. The story that you tell your friends of course will be up to you." Her heart beat quickened. How was this her life now? How was she being transported under cover in the dead of the night for her protection? How was she leaving the only people she had loved as family? A feeling of dread filled her chest as tears began to flow down her face. This was not something she wanted to do. She hadn't wanted anyone to see her weakness and yet here she was crying in front of a virtual stranger. As she wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand she looked at David. "Sorry. This is just a lot to deal with. I'm not usually so emotional."

"I wouldn't expect anything different. Mary Margaret cries when we have to leave the dog with a pet sitter for the weekend. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to leave your entire life behind. As sympathetic as I am though we need to get you over to the hotel. I'll leave you to call your friends to meet you there and then we should be on our way." She nodded as he handed her a phone and walked out of the room. She guessed there was no reason to delay the inevitable.

In less than two hours later she was in her hotel room with Granny and Ruby sitting across from her. "Alright Emma. What's going on? You sounded awful on the phone earlier."

"Yeah, it's been a rough night. And I'm going to tell you what you need to know. But I need you to know that my mind is made up. You won't be able to change my mind." They shifted in their seats, moving to sit a little big straighter. Clearly something serious was going on because they had been called to meet Emma at a hotel but suddenly it seemed like something was definitely up with her. "Okay Emma. What's going on? Just be straight with us." A glimmer of a smile ticked at the edge of Emma's mouth at the sound of her friends words. Ruby was a straight shooter. She was always so completely herself that it put Emma completely at ease. It was something that she was going to miss desperately. Where would she find another friend that made it so easy to be herself? With that her smile waned and a tear rolled down her cheek unchecked. Not one to miss anything Granny moved to the edge of her chair. "Emma, now. You're scaring me."

"I'm going away. I'm leaving Storybrooke."

"Why?" Granny stared hard at her, trying to assess what might be potentially driving this sudden decision. "I saw some stuff tonight. Stuff that I can't really get into but it messed me up. I just can't be here anymore. I've got to go. I can't be reminded everyday. I'm sure you'll know in the next few days but it won't be from me. I'm leaving in a few hours and I'm putting Storybrooke in my rear-view mirror. I love you guys and I hate to leave you but I can't stay here." She looked at the people that she considered family and she knew that she was hurting them. The pain was written all over their faces. Her explanation had been vague. Bare bones but it was all she could come up with. She didn't want to lie to them. She didn't want to spin an elaborate yarn. Now that she had told them though all she wanted to do was slip into the night and forget that this night had happened. Until Robert Gold was caught and she was summoned to testify anyways. Ruby was the first to move. She got up and came to sit next to Emma on the bed. "Ems, tell me what's going on."

"I did Ruby. There's not anything more to say. I can't be here." A hint of desperation crept into her voice, fearing that if they continued to ask questions she would crack and give them a real answer. She desperately wanted to explain to them why she was about to fall out of their lives and it was only the knowledge that her not telling them could potentially save their lives that stopped her from doing so. "Emma, I know there's more." Her eyes sought out Granny, silently pleading with her to stop Ruby from continuing to ask why she was leaving. "There's not Ruby. There's not." Tears flowed from Ruby's eyes and she put her arms around Emma, attempting to persuade her. Moments later Granny stood and enveloped both girls. Her heart was breaking much like the younger two women but she sensed that there was something more to what was going on and knew we enough that if Emma wasn't sharing the details of her leaving there must be a good reason for it. Tears were not in short supply as the women said their good-byes and after an hour they finally left the room. Emma was left sitting on the bed, eyes finally dry, wondering how this was what was becoming of her. She was back to where she had been when she first arrived in Storybrooke. Alone.