Chapter One: Pilot

A/N: This is a OUAT fic. My first one actually.

Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT. I only came up with this idea.

It wasn't the first time Emma didn't know what was going on. Or the last. But this was really the icing on the cake.

"Uh? Can I help you?" Emma asked confused.

"Are you Emma Swan?" Her son Henry asked.

"Um, ye-yeah," she stammered. "Who are you?"

"My name's Henry. I'm your son." Henry pushed past her into the apartment.

"Why are you here?" Emma asked Henry.

"Well, I'll explain on the way," Henry said as he looked for the juice. "Hey, you have any juice? Never mind, found some." Emma rolled her eyes. Typical. "You know, we should probably get going."

"Where?" Emma asked. To keep things the same.

"Storybrooke, Maine."

"Alrighty, then. Let's get you back to Storybrooke."


A few hours later, Henry starts to complain. "I'm hungry. Can we stop somewhere?"

"Fine, kid," Emma sighed. She pulled up to a McDonalds.

"You know I have a name? It's Henry," he said as they ate in silence. Henry reads a book while he eats.

"What's that?"

"I'm not sure you're ready, Emma."

"I'm not ready for some fairy tales?"

"They're not fairy tales. They're true. Every story in this book actually happened."

"Okay," Emma accepted.

"Okay?" Henry asked in disbelief. "I would have come earlier if I knew it was this easy! You're in this book too, you know."

"Of course I am."

"You don't believe me."

Emma avoided answering. "Okay, kid. How about an address?" Emma asks as they pull into town.

"Forty-four Not Telling You street."

Emma rolls her eyes and stops the car in the middle of the road then gets out. Henry follows.

"Look, it's been a long night and it's almost… 8:15?"

"That clock hasn't moved my whole life. Time's-"

"-frozen here," Emma finished.

"Yeah!" Henry exclaimed happily. "The Evil Queen did it with her curse. She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here. And now they're trapped."

Someone calls out to Henry. A man with a dog approaches them. It's Archie. "Henry! What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine, Archie."

"Who's this?"

"Emma Swan. I'm Henry's biological mom." Emma smiled at the former cricket.

"Oh. I see."

"You know where he lives?"

"Yeah, sure. Just, ah, right up on Mifflin street. The Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block," Archie points in the direction. He turns to Henry. "Hey, where were you today, Henry? Because you missed your session."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I went on a field trip."

"Henry. What did I tell you about lying? Giving into one's dark side never accomplishes anything."

"Oookay. Well, I really should be getting him home," Emma cut in.

"Yeah, sure. Well, listen. Um. Have a good night and, uh, you be good, Henry."

"I'm not crazy," Henry said immediately.

"Didn't say that," Emma argued. "Who's he supposed to be anyway?"

"Jiminy Cricket."

"Right of course," Emma agreed.

They arrive at a large, white house.

"Please don't take me back there."

"I have to. I'm sure your mom is worried sick about you."

"How do you know I only have a mom?" Henry asked suspiciously.

Emma sighed. "I wanted to know who adopted you. Single woman. Regina Mills. Loves kids, the file said. I knew you'd be good with her."

"She's evil, Emma."

"Evil? That's a bit extreme, isn't it?"

"She is. She doesn't love me. She only pretends to."

"Kid… That's not true. Regina may not show it, but-"

Regina opens the door to the house and rushes towards them. "Henry! Henry… Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?" She asked.

"-she really does love you," Emma finished.

Regina turned to Emma and froze. "Emma Swan."

Emma's heart stopped beating for a few seconds. "You know my name?"

"Of course, it was on the adoption file Operation Mongoose gave me."

Operation Mongoose. Henry's code name for finding the author. "Yes, of course forgot. My bad."

"Yes," Regina said holding a steady gaze. "Of course."

"Weird name," Henry remarked. "Why'd you chose that company? The name?"

"No, no, Henry," Emma said hurriedly. "It was the best one in the area."

"Miss Swan, a word in the kitchen," Regina suggested. She walked into the house.

Henry cast a worried look at his mom. "Good luck," he whispered. "Don't eat the apple's, they're poisoned."

Emma laughed. "Okay, kid." She walked into the kitchen.


"Why are you here?" Regina asked.

"To drop off Henry and break your curse," Emma answered calmly.

Regina spun around. "Excuse me?"

"You mentioned Operation Mongoose. We both know I put him in Wools Adoption Program. His code name for finding the author and your happy ending was Operation Mongoose."

Regina sighed. "All day today I knew he was going to leave and get you, but when you first came, you were competitive to spend time with Henry. It's a small relief to know you are the Emma I know."

"What do you last remember?" Emma questioned.

"Gold summoning Charon to take us to find Hook."

"Same," Emma sighed. Tears glistened. "Look," she sniffed. "We have to get Gold's dagger before we can break the curse and bring back magic. Then we have to go get Excalibur to remove the darkness. Without me or Killian becoming the Dark Ones."

"Did we all come back?" Regina wondered.

"I've been thinking that too," Emma admitted. "I don't really know. David's still in coma right now-"

"Sorry," Regina winced.

"-and Mary Margaret is a teacher. The clock hasn't moved yet, so I need to find a place in this town."

"Well," Regina smirked, "how about starting out as a Deputy Sheriff?"

Emma pumped her fist. "Yes!" She exclaimed.

Regina handed her the Deputy Sheriff Badge. "Be very responsible," Regina teased.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Definitely."

"Henry would love it if you stayed here the night. Until you find a place."

Emma beamed. "Aw, you do care! I'll stay, sure."

"Henry!" Regina called. "Emma's staying for a while!"

"Yes!" Henry called. They heard him running down the stairs.

"Can we tell him?" Emma asked.

Regina shrugged. "If you think that's best. I don't mind as long as he doesn't try to kill me."

"Deal," Emma smirked. She turned to Henry when he walked in. "Hey, kid," she said.

"Hi," Henry said back. "So you're really staying?"

"Of course," Emma exclaimed. She turned serious. "But me and Regina want you to know something."

"What?" Henry asked.

"You're right, Henry," Regina said suddenly. "Your fairytale theory. I am the Evil Queen. Emma is Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter. Mary Margaret is Snow, Archie is Jiminy Cricket."

"So you are evil!" Henry cried jumping away from her. "And you poisoned my mom!"

"Henry," Emma pleaded. "I'm not poisoned. Listen. Me and Regina know some things about the future, okay? We're from their. In that future, she's changed to good."

"Okay, I guess," Henry said after a moment. "Can we call this Operation Cobra? You know, fixing the future."

Emma snorted. "Of course we can. The only thing is we can't let Rumplestiltskin know."

"Who's he?" Henry asked. "There's a few I'm not sure about. I never could figure out who was Rumplestiltskin, though."

"Henry," Regina said. "Everyone's name has meaning. Mary Margaret Blanchard for example. Blanco is Spanish for white. Mary Margaret is Snow White. Archie Hopper? Jiminy Cricket. Crickets hop. Do you get it now?"

Henry nodded. "I think so. Then Rumplestiltskin is Mr. Gold, right? Because Rumplestiltskin can spin straw into gold."

Emma nodded. "Exactly. Do not let him know we know anything."

Ding! Ding!

They looked out the front door to see the clock strike nine. Henry smiles.

A/N: Good? Bad? Horrible? Tell me in a review. Thanks!

TimeTravelFreak2