A/N: Hi everyone,

this is the first time I'm publishing a story here- please feel free to give feedback to let me know what you think.

I wrote this story after The Stable Boy, and it's completely AU, but I've been rewriting it, to incorporate new characters and some plotlines from season 2.

I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Not mine, sadly;)


„…Storybrooke. Really?!"

"aw, come on! Could've been worse!"

"…"

"…now don't give me that raised eyebrow, Missy! It's either here, or sleeping in the car!"

"…"

"…in the wilderness,…"

"…"

"…with no showers,…"

"…"

"…or a TV,…"

"…"

"…and no electricity to charge your phone…"

"fine!"

"…oh come on, say it with more gratitude, I dare you…"

"Why'd you have to drag me along in the first place? Just because you decided to do your bounty hunting thing and chase some thug all the way to the North Pole!"

"…exaggerating much?"

"Well, I'd bet we're already in Newfoundland!"

"Must be a new record then, Boston- Newfoundland in just under 3 hours. And you know very well why you had to come…"

"Geez! I'm not a baby anymore!"

"Nope, you're a teenager; even worse."

"…"

"…and I love having you with me."

"hrmph"

"…your youthful exuberance and bubbly personality are so rare and precious…"

"…"

"…especially coupled with that adoring frown you've been working on perfecting since I picked you up from school this afternoon. Makes this trip all the more special!"

"…"

"…alright Pixie, I think this is it. Does look quite cute for a B&B, doesn't it?"

"…"

"Well, we've stayed in worse! Come on, let's grab our stuff and get settled; and then we'll see what we'll do about dinner, ok?..."

"…"

Wham! The passenger door of the yellow beetle connected violently with its frame, causing the woman, who was already halfway up the path to the house to turn around and fix an exasperated glare at the scowling girl;

"…and your attitude."

The blonde opened the front door, looking around for someone to book a room for the two of them. She really needed to sit the kid down for a long chat, she mused. Something had been off for the last couple of weeks. Whereas the girl usually was easy- going, energetic, and well cheeky to the core; she'd been moody lately, tense and bratty. Maybe her nightmares had gotten worse again, maybe it was just her hormones going crazy, but whatever it was, she needed to get to the bottom of it.

Well, nothing like a road trip under the guise of having to work in order to get a teenager to open up. Hopefully it wouldn't take long to get them settled. Soon enough she heard angry voices drifting down from the second floor, followed by hasty footsteps on the stairs.

At least she wasn't the only one who had to deal with snotty attitudes, she thought, as she silently followed the heated exchange between an old lady and a seriously gorgeous looking brunette. Who was wearing the shortest version of the LBD in history- ever. They both seemed quite friendly, but that sleazy small guy, who had suddenly materialized behind her, definitely deserved a spot in the House Of All That Is Creepy.

She wasn't even going to start with his weird dealings with the two ladies, or the comment about her name; what really raised the warning flags was the fact that she saw the slightest flicker of confusion on his face when she mentioned her daughter to the inn-lady. It washed over his face and was gone as quickly as it had come, but she had seen it.

While she was more than used to getting a few raised eyebrows every time she introduced herself as a mother of a fourteen year old- this felt different. It wasn't the 'oh really, how old were you exactly when you had her?'- it was the 'how come I have known nothing about this until now?' look. Expertly disguised- creepy. Thankfully he left shortly after that.

"Who was that?"

"Mr Gold", the girl answered in an ominous tone, "he owns the town."

"He owns the town?"

"Alright, Miss Swan" the old lady said effectively cutting short any further elaborations from the young brunette," here's the key to your room, why don't you go fetch your daughter, and I'll show you the way. Is she still waiting out by the car?"

"Best case scenario," Emma mumbled "she's most likely already attempting to hitchhike back to Boston", she added with a little smirk.

Sensing her own chance of a quick and more importantly nag free getaway, the girl who had still been looking out of the window, turned towards the door, and threw a "you guys go ahead, I'll send her up on my way out" over her shoulder, before she disappeared from sight.

Fighting the smirk that had started to spread at the stormy look crossing the inn-lady's face, Emma followed her up the stairs, half-heartedly listening to comments about extra towels, breakfast times and what not.

The "enjoy your stay" was drowned out by loud footsteps downstairs, followed by a high- pitched "Emma?"

"Up here Pixie!" she hollered back, slightly frowning at the sudden panic in the kid's voice.

And sure enough, like a bat out of hell, the girl raced up the stairs and skidded to a halt right in front of her. Her eyes were blown wide, and her breath was coming in short gasps. And if that wasn't sufficient to propel her into full mama bear mode within seconds, the whimper that escaped her daughter's lips as soon as her eyes fell onto the old lady standing in the open doorway to their room definitely did.

"Hey, hey sweetie, what's wrong?" she cooed, grasping the smaller blonde's shoulders and steering her towards the bed. She looked back at the landlady who gave her a tight lipped smile in response and silently closed the door.

"Ok Katie, now you're scaring me! What happened? Was it that man who came out of here? Did he say something to you?" Emma started to shoot off questions, trying in vain to catch her daughter's gaze who had slumped down on the old fashioned bed dominating the room. She was shaking like a leaf, her face sporting a shade of pale Casper would have been proud of.

A jerky little headshake was her only answer, but right now Emma was grateful for anything. Slowly, she lowered herself to her knees and started to run her hands up and down the distraught girl's arms. "Alright. Deep breaths honey. Whatever is happening, we can sort it out, ok? Just tell me, please!"

Katie looked at her hauntedly, eyes dark and fearful, red splotches on her white cheeks- four raspy words tumbling slowly from her lips:

"Red. I saw Red."

Of course, she was an expert at deciphering teenager slang-

"What do you mean? You got angry?"

"What? N-no, I mean Red- outside, I- I saw her!"

Unfortunately Katie still wasn't making much sense, and now her shaking had given way to sobs each one sounding more hysterical than the last.

"Katie? Katie! You need to calm down! You're hyperventilating!"

Shit, what do you do when your child's having a panic attack? There was nothing about that in the handbook! Paperbags- people in movies always use paperbags. Where on earth would she get a paperbag now?

Her erratic train of thought was cut short, when Katie suddenly dashed past her into the small en-suite, and started dry heaving into the toilet. Oh dear, at least that was something she could handle. Quickly, Emma slid down next to the girl, gathering her hair in one hand, while rubbing soothing circles on her back with her other.

Thankfully, Katie's stomach seemed to settle fairly quickly, and soon Emma pulled her back into her arms and dropped kisses on her damp forehead.

"Please darling, please explain this to me- let me help you!"

The older blonde shifted slightly and pulled the younger one more securely to her. Crap, these floors were really uncomfortable. And the Munchkin wasn't exactly getting smaller, either.

"That was Red, Emma- and her grandma the Widow Lucas."

Oh holy fuck! No way! She so wasn't ready for this!

"You mean Red as in Little Red Riding Hood?" she just had to clarify.

A soft nod against her shoulder was the reply.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

"Honey, are you sure?"

Another nod.

"I mean, it's getting dark outside, and you haven't seen them in so long; plus the name of this place could have, I dunno- subconsciously given you this idea,…"

Red rimmed eyes fixed on her face, stopping her rambling immediately.

"Emma, I'm sure. I've lived with them!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Fuck!"

Well that at least earned her a grin. A slightly wobbly one, but hey- anything was preferable to the panicking- and puking.

"Oh my God! Emma! We need to find the other ones! They could all be here somewhere!"

"hrmpf" fuck, an elbow right into her solar plexus.

"Come on, Emma! We have to check!"

"Calm down, gimme a sec"- wow those were some great black spots clouding her vision. Emma pressed her fists to her eyes, willing to regain her equilibrium.

"Katie, sweetey- please slow down for just a-"

Bam.

Well there goes that last discussion about using ones indoor voice and not slamming doors. Emma quickly picked herself up from the floor, and wrenched the abused door wide open. Thankfully her little charge had stayed inside their room. She really didn't feel like chasing an overly emotional teenager frantically searching for fairytale characters all across a strange town. Alright, she needed to take charge of the situation. And quickly, before Katie bolted after all. The girl had the nervous deposition of a thoroughbred at the best of times.

Thankfully four years of being a mother had left her with some reliable parenting techniques when it came to dealing with bouts of teenage angst. The most important one being "fake it, till you make it". And fake it, Emma did.

Portraying a confidence she certainly didn't feel, she fixed her eyes on younger ones and stated calmly: "Alright, pixie. This is what we're going to do. Miss Lucas has said that she also runs a diner here. So you are going back into the bathroom and wash up, then we're going to grab a bite, and get a feel for this place, ok?"

Katie stared, blinked a few times, nodded, turned towards her duffel bag, took out a fresh shirt and her bag of toiletries and disappeared into the en-suite.

Mission accomplished. Emma released the breath she had been holding. Alright, she had ten, fifteen minutes tops before she had to be all calm and collected again.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

She knew this day would come eventually. Even though she was caustic by nature, and a hell of a sceptic, she had always believed Katie. At first she had only seen that this little girl truly believed in the things she was saying, but somewhere along the line she had started believing herself. There was no explanation for it, no proof, but in her heart, she knew. Holding this truth to her chest was as frightening as it was exhilarating. And it had created an incredibly strong bond with her daughter. Well, foster- daughter actually- casting actual blood relations aside. If CPS ever got wind of what Emma was encouraging- actively looking for fairytale characters in order to release them from an evil curse- well, they'd snatch the kid faster from her than she could say 'happily ever after'.

Emma quickly shed her own shirt, sprayed on some deodorant and grabbed a white tank top out of her bag- can't expect the girl to do something she won't do herself, after all- and went over what they already knew about the curse. Which, sadly wasn't all that much, since Katie was only nine by the time it was cast. And what she knew stemmed from various bits and pieces the adults around her deemed her old enough to know and a hell lot of eavesdropping on Katie's part.

Alright: the curse had sent people to another land, but how many, they didn't know. They were trapped in time, and didn't know of their past. Apart from the Evil Queen, of course, who had orchestrated the whole thing.

Really not a lot to work with. Plus she was supposed to break the spell when she was 28. Because she was the friggin' spawn of Snow White and her Prince Charming. Whom Katie insisted was actually called David, while impersonating his dead twin Prince James- lovely.

So all they had to do was identify those Katie remembered, make time move again and give everyone back their old memories. And all of that without getting arrested or send to the loony bin. Piece of cake.

The bathroom door opened and Katie stepped out, her eyes still a bit puffy, her face still pale, but looking much calmer now as she went over to Emma and buried her face in her chest.

Wrapping her own arms around the girl Emma dropped a series of kisses on the top of her head before releasing her again murmuring: "ready?"

A sharp nod was her reply. "Ok pixie, I need you to really listen to me now, can you do that?"

Another nod.

"Right. Whatever happens, I need you to stay calm. No matter who you may or may not recognize, I need you to keep your cool. We're just gathering intel, ok? We don't wanna stick out, especially since this is such a small town and it looks like we have to hang around for quite a while. If it gets too much for you, just tell me, and we come straight back here to talk it out, ok?"

"'kay Emma."

"Great," the older blonde exclaimed forcing a smile on her lips, grasping the girl's shoulders and steering her out of their room.

Night had fallen and the wind had turned; now coming from the sea, bringing with it the salty tang and sharp bite typical for early spring. Emma turned her face to Katie, who was taking a big lung full of air, a contented smile on her face as her eyes darted around, watching with fascination as the mist which had previously held the town in its grasp was driven back to the forest by the unrelenting invisible force coming from the shore. Both women ducked their heads low, bracing the cold breeze and quickly made their way to the old diner on Main Street.

Granny's Diner was well visited, and almost as soon as Katie and Emma entered a hush fell over the customers, all of them looking at the newcomers curiously.

Fucking fantastic. So much for being discreet. Emma quickly scanned the room, and found an empty booth at the back. She smirked awkwardly at a few faces, and shuffled over to the table, Katie following her as if on autopilot. She chose the seat exposing her back to the room- something she wouldn't have normally done, but the idea was to let Katie get the best view of everything going on. Thankfully the silence that had fallen upon their entry was slowly lifted, and she released the breath she had been holding. The menu appeared in front of her, courtesy of the blonde waitress with the short red skirt and tight white shirt. The only thing missing on that outfit were roller skates, she mused.

Emma quickly ordered iced tea and cheeseburgers for the both of them, hoping the girl would quickly scurry off again before she noticed Katie staring at her.

She softly nudged the kid's foot under the table and green eyes fixed on hers.

"So?"

"…"

"what about her? Ever seen her before?"

The millionth headshake for the day.

Allright.

"Anybody else?"

"No."

Emma's heart broke at the sight of tears swimming in Katie's eyes.

She quickly grabbed the girl's hand, squeezing it gently.

"It's okay, Pixie. Just take it easy. We just arrived!"

God, she was such a big softie! She only had to look at those wet eyes and trembling chin, and she wanted to start crying herself! Katie however proved tremendous self-control and managed to get a grip on her emotions just as their drinks arrived. Emma quickly downed more than half of it in one go.

Fuck, she was a nervous wreck. She didn't know whether she wanted this little operation to be successful, or not. If Katie wouldn't recognize anybody else tonight she would be devastated, but if she would, chances would be pretty high that it would be someone who had been close to her, once upon a time. And that made them close to her by default, since Katie and herself were family, too.

Her quiet, desperate rant of "no Snow White, please no Snow White", was interrupted by the cheeseburger suddenly materializing in front of her. At least the burger tasted good, she thought appreciatively as she busied herself inhaling her dinner. A quick, inconspicuous glance across the table confirmed that the girl was at least making an effort at eating something. She definitely hadn't expected that. Well, you had to savour the small successes as well, she thought.

Once her plate was cleared, Emma leaned back in her seat, snagging some fries from Katie's, and contemplated on what to do next. Maybe she should suggest they go for a little walk. Not that she expected there to be many people out and about, but it might do them good to stretch their legs a little, and escape this scenery here for a while.

She was shaken from her thoughts by a small commotion over at the bar, involving their waitress and a tall, handsome guy. Both were busy talking to a customer slumped over one of the barstools; completely shit- faced by the looks of it.

"Alright Leroy," Mr Handsome said, helping the other guy down from his seat, "let's call it a night. You can sleep it off at the station."

The drunk named Leroy murmured something incomprehensible, his glassy eyes sweeping over them as he was led past their booth and out of the diner.

A swift and quite painful kick to her shin made her quickly face her daughter again, the reprimand dying on her tongue as she saw Katie grinning from ear to ear.

"What?" she grumbled instead, rubbing her abused leg.

"That was Grumpy! Emma, Grumpy!" Katie whispered frantically, "we really found them!"

"That was Grumpy?" Emma mumbled, "Figures."