Yet another idea that has been nagging at me, but at least it was a drabble. If only my other stories could be written so quickly...

"There isn't really a choice, is there?" he whispered. "Adventure cheats. It's so much shinier and louder than Not-Adventure."
-Catherynne M. Valente, The Boy Who Lost Fairyland

The first time she heard the words, Eve didn't dwell on them. After all, the people of the town were being turned into fairytale characters and the Big Bad Wolf was featured in more than one story. Considering her family ties, she was mostly just relieved not to become one of the wolves, even if the whole helpless princess thing was beyond irritating. It took a couple of weeks before the memory of it didn't conjure a desperate wish for a punching bag or a shooting range.

The next instance was less ambiguous. Morgan le Fay had brought her between time, or possibly outside of it – English didn't exactly have the right language for temporal descriptions as Eve had learned growing up – and was either warning her, threatening her, or both. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a banner that said 'Bad Wolf'. Later, when she could finally sit and breathe, she hoped that it was just because of how time had been manipulated. A one-off.

But it kept happening. Not all the time, and not obviously. Just enough to keep her aware. Carved into a wall in the house in Slovakia, a brand of machinery parts in Tesla's upstate New York town.

Eve hoped that this was just a warning of an impending visit, rather than a warning of the end of the world.

That faint hope was shattered the moment Lamia was stabbed by Dulaque. She thought the others were probably too preoccupied by the dying woman, but she noticed that every piece of writing, every spine and paper blared 'Bad Wolf', and she cursed as she dove through the glowing portal.

She followed those words, or maybe they followed her, as she moved from thread to thread, until Dulaque – Lancelot, seriously, what the hell? – ran her through with his sword. Time slowed. Literally, she realized after a while. Time for her, for her body, had slowed, and she suspected that Flynn's had increased as he raced through the Library. Just enough to keep her alive until he could save her, and Eve was thankful for the intervention.

In the week after the Library's recovery, Eve thought maybe that was it. That the words had just been a warning, a hint, and a help.

Then the doorbell to the Annex rang, and she opened it to blonde hair, dark eyes, and a bright smile.

"Hello, Eve," Rose said. "I was so worried."

Rose was bent over double, laughing loudly when Eve finished explaining her new job as Guardian. The Librarians mostly just lingered, looking confused. Including Flynn, Eve noted with mixed feelings. Because her mother would notice how they acted around each other, and would definitely ask. And Eve wasn't quite sure where she and Flynn stood with each other quite yet, particularly since they hadn't even had a date unless they counted running for their lives. Which her mother would definitely count. Except they'd been apart for most of their adventures, which her mother would definitely not be too happy about. Rose had very strong opinions about partners leaving one another behind.

"It's not that funny, Mum," she protested. At this point she didn't care about hiding her past. She hadn't even been trying, really, not since she had become comfortable in her Guardian role. It just hadn't come up, and she certainly wasn't going to randomly announce that she was from a different dimension and her mother wasn't quite human anymore. Not without a reason.

There was a bit of choking, and various confused mutterings of, "Mum?!" Eve ignored it, scowling at their visitor. She was never going to hear the end of this.

"Except it is," her mother cackled. "You left home determined to have a normal life, and now you're runnin' around all over the world helpin' people, with a more-or-less sentient base that's bigger on the inside!"

Eve scowled, but her best argument amounted to an almost petulant, "Just the one world. And time period."

"So far."

Jenkins interrupted politely with a tea set and commented, "You look very young for your age, Mrs. Tyler."

"Rose," she corrected, looking not a day over 25. "Thanks, so do you."

While her mother beamed mischievously at Jenkins, Eve narrowed her eyes at his suddenly blank expression. That did confirm some of her suspicions.

She looked around at the others with a sigh, and Flynn took it as a signal to approach. Maybe she could leave explanations to her mother. Although she was looking forward to Jenkins' face when they got to the part about aliens existing, at least in her home dimension. And maybe she could Jones' UFO geekery to keep him in line for an adventure or two.

Eve glanced back at her mother and couldn't help smiling a little. Despite the trouble, it was nice to see Mum again.