Author Note: I originally wrote this story for a different fandom but I think it may work better for OUAT. Hope you enjoy!


Chapter One – Not Playing With A Full Deck

It was another cloudy night in the city of Portland. But Emma wasn't surprised because it had been all day. She wasn't surprised by the clouds anymore. They were a sight Emma had become accustomed to living in the Pacific Northwest. Even though it was the end of July, the peak temperature for the day had only been 76. She thought when she moved to the west coast she would be greeted by hot sunny days and breezy nights. Guess she should have done more research.

The tall, blonde grabbed at her fitted, gray, leather jacket to try and keep the warmth in. But, alas, it was only made for fashion and not function. As she crossed the empty Nordstrom parking lot, her white cork wedges clicked against the asphalt and she silently thanked herself for choosing to wear her ankle length dress pants today instead of the summer dress she had originally picked out.

As Emma continued down the deserted aisle to the loan car that remained she admired the newly detailed Range Rover. The frame shined under the streetlight and the chrome wheels looked as new as the day she bought it. She had her career to thank for that beauty. She had come a long way since that VW bug.

The 28-year old had been promoted to Regional Manager three years ago, making her the youngest manager in company history. She had expected the promotion, however. She was the hardest working manager on the west coast and her numbers proved that. Plus, you can't really come more recommended than when you hand in a personal letter from the CEO of one of the biggest import/export companies in the world: Nolan Mills Corporation.

David really knew how to take care of family.

Thinking of her generous father made Emma reminiscent of her past. It has been almost six years since she had left The House and she missed it everyday. But her reasoning for leaving was far greater than any reason to stay.

This place was her home now. And even though she had to work past store closing a few nights a month, it was worth every second of it.

Some of the store's high-end customers liked to shop privately through the collections. And no ordinary salesgirl could be entrusted with such prominent clientele. Emma always thought it was a pretentious move but they were the ones with the Visa Black Card, so they called the shots.

Tonight, she had the pleasure of finding Mrs. Summer McAllister a new wardrobe for her second honeymoon. The 33-year old ex-model had married 72-year old investment banker Harry McAllister three months ago. So of course it was time for a second honeymoon.

She was a sweet girl, but every time she traveled to the lingerie section Emma had to try hard not to gag.


It was just about after midnight when Emma pulled into the garage of her cottage styled house. As she walked through the back door, heels in hand, she immediately knew something was wrong. Although it was late, her house was too quiet. Her body quickly tightened as her senses went into overdrive. Silently, she moved through her hallways until she reached the spacious living room. Her body edged against the wall as she quickly noticed the body slumped on the couch.

It was the young body of her 19-year old baby sitter Bailey. Her braided chestnut locks had come awkwardly loose and had covered her hunched neck. Emma knew she was asleep but also noticed the unnatural position her body fell in. That was when she noticed the smell of coffee coming from her kitchen. Bailey sometimes brewed herself a cup when she was expecting Emma late. The college student was not accustomed to the strong French blend Emma kept in her cupboards and she would be bouncing off the walls by the time Emma arrived back home. So the fact that she was past out on her couch with a nearly empty cup in front of her on the table made the hairs on Emma's neck stand on end.

In a flash, the blonde reached into the white opaque vase on the nearest wall shelf and pulled out a .22-Beretta pistol. She had discarded her shoes and purse long ago as she stealthily made her way to the elegant wood staircase. Every light upstairs was turned on, another red flag in Emma's mind. There was only one room that was of any importance to the 28-year old – the one at the end of the hall with the red H handing on the door. As she reached for the silver handle she wordlessly prayed to God that she would find a sleeping five year old behind that door.

Just as silently as she had made her way through the house, she opened the white door. As she had assumed, the lights were off. Her perfectly manicure hand reached to the left and felt the cool wall for the switch. As the florescent bulb filled the room with bright light Emma's voice hitched in her throat.

It was a picture perfect little boy's room. Everything was in order.

Which was why it was so horribly wrong.

It was completely void of any life.

The little twin bed in the corner was as perfectly made as it had been that morning. Both fluffy, red pillows pristine and in their places.

Absent of a five-year-old boy.

Absent of her five-year-old boy.

Emma felt like she couldn't breathe. There was no oxygen in her lungs and her sight was going out of focus. Her leather-clad shoulder hit the wall as her gun clamored to the floor. Time stood still. Her mind did not move, her eyes did not blink. She just slouched against the wall staring at the spot her son should have been asleep. As the stinging of tears pricked the back of her eyes she pushed the bile back down her throat. This kick started her brain to work again. And that was when she noticed the lined white piece of paper that stood out against her son's bedspread.

Large cursive handwriting covered the lines of the page. The writing was eerily familiar to Emma, making her stomach lurch again. Her throat burned with fear.

Her Majesty The Queen,

I love what you have done with the place. So sorry I missed you but your handsome son is keeping me company. I shall keep an eye on him for you until my task for you is complete. Your dear old father has become more of a nuisance to me since you have departed his presence. Take care of that, will you. When I have full rule of the Cézanne Accord I will return sweet little Henry to you. Unharmed. Hope to see you soon your highness.

Your old friend,

Mr. Gold

This time Emma could not control the retching in her stomach. She barely made it into the hallway bathroom before the contents of her stomach were spilled into the porcelain bowl. Hot tears streamed down her make-up covered cheeks but she couldn't wipe them away. As she held her long blonde curls at the nape of her neck she felt as if her chest was caving in.

He had found her. He had found them. The one person she prayed that would never figure out she was still alive had found her.

She stayed like that for what seemed like hours: hunched over against the toilet, sweat covering her forehead and neck. But she needed to move. Bailey was still unconscious downstairs and she had to come up with a plan.

"Bailey, time to wake up sleepy head."

The young brunette on the couch jolted awake at the sound of the motherly voice. Before she could move from her position, a gorgeous woman was in front of her smiling kindly.

Her long, sun kissed blonde hair was slightly curled and in a high ponytail, pushed back from her face at the back of her head. Her usually made up face was void of any cosmetics giving her a fresh, clean look. Her large green eyes had a gray sheen in the low light shining into the room from the kitchen. And her coral cupid arrow lips looked as if they were painted on her face.

She looked just as beautiful as any other night Bailey babysat for her.

She was the essence of glamorous, always up on the latest trends and wearing the highest fashions; all while raising a five-year-old son by herself. She was definitely what the college aged girl aspired to be, let alone in 28 years.

"Oh my goodness, Jennifer I am so sorry! I don't know how I feel asleep. I even made a pot of coffee for myself. I am sooo sor-" the tall woman in front of her addressed as Jennifer cut her off before she continued her babbling.

"Bailey, Bailey its ok. It's late. I already checked on Henry and he's asleep upstairs. You better get back to the dorms."

As the teenager peeled herself from the couch she couldn't help but notice her employer was already changed out of her work attire and into navy track pants and a ribbed white tank.

As she embarrassingly walked to the front entrance, she was handed a check for her time. "Oh, and Bailey I forgot to tell you that Henry and I are taking a vacation next week to see some family in Europe. We'll be gone for quite a while so if you don't hear from me…" The mother trailed off implying that she wouldn't be earning any babysitting money any time soon.

The shorter brunette smiled and nodded her head, "Ok just call me when you get back, goodnight!"

The door was shut and the kind façade fell.

Here, she was known as Jennifer Swan.

A single mom from Tampa, Florida who got pregnant soon after high school by a deadbeat jock head who was going nowhere with his life. She moved to the west coast dreaming of something more than what her small town lifestyle could give her. She had no family, no friends and no money. She was looking to start over in the city of Portland.

Sounded like the beginning of a bad romance book but it's the best she could do. Considering Emma Nolan was presumably dead, she had to create a new identity. Another thing that was thanks to her family's connections. Birth certificates, passports, drivers license and even a credit history, all with the names Jennifer and Henry Swan on them.


It was nearly 4:00am when Emma arrived at the Portland International Airport. Luckily, the earliest flight to Poland was the next morning at 7:10am. It would take sixteen hours with two layovers in D.C. and Stockholm. She was expected to arrive at the Gdansk Airport at 9:00am Thursday morning.

As she sat at the empty gate in the deserted terminal she had nothing to pass the time but blankly stare out the large windows into the darkness and wonder how her life got so fucked up.


Although the Nolans were the founding family of the Cards, there were four original families. These families stood by the Nolans side at the inauguration of their "organization".

Calling it a gang seemed so tasteless to them.

The Mills, Booths and Cassidys, of course, both sets of Nolans were known throughout the Cards as the Originals. And because of this, each was granted the honor of being a Face Card, the most prestigious position a member could achieve in the Card organization. Henry Mills was dubbed King of Spades with his wife Cora taking her role as his Queen. Then Marco and Cleo Booth were given the titles of King and Queen of Clubs. However, not every Queen had a King by her side. Milah Cassidy was single at the time of commencement and therefore ruled the Diamonds alone. The suit of Hearts ruler was vacant for the time being.

This was only fitting because it was agreed upon that the Queen of Hearts would be second in command after The Ace of Spades.

That title belonged to the ultimate original, George Nolan.

Being the husband to Henry's elder sister Ruth, and primary founder of the Cards, he was given the highest title of Ace, the only one in the deck. His word was law and he had controlling power over each suit in The House. His wife, and first lady of the Cards, refused a Face title. She was too busy raising her son David, the first heir of the Cards. When he came of age he would become King of Hearts. And then one day, Ace.

It took years for the Cards to flourish, but the Originals never gave up hope. Years past and when David turned 20, the age of commencement, he was sworn into the Faces as King of Hearts. Soon after he married his true love, Mary Margaret.

Mary Margaret seemed to be the perfect candidate for the Queen of Hearts. But before her own commencement, she discovered she was with child. Following in her mother-in-law's footsteps, Mary Margaret declined the nomination to raise her daughter.

Similarly, the older Originals had already started to produce their own future members. A few years before Emma was born, Marco and Cleo were the first to give birth to their heir August Booth. At the same joyous time, Milah was in the middle of a secret relationship with a mysterious man that no one knew anything about. But when she became pregnant the other Faces were surprised, but did not question her. Neal Cassidy came along soon after and it seemed like the second generation of Faces were almost complete.

A year after Emma was born, Cora became pregnant with her own daughter and Regina Mills was brought into the suit of Spades.

Obviously Emma couldn't remember the first time she ever met Neal Cassidy. He was always just there. The heirs were the only children in The House and therefore stuck together. As far back as she could remember Emma was attached to Regina at the hip. They were family.

Similarly, the boys formed their companionship. In every memory Emma had the scruffy brunette was there. And although she had a strong relationship with both her cousin and August, Neal was always a different story. She had no feelings toward him, platonic or otherwise. He was just there. In her homeschooling classes, in the training sessions and even at both of her grandparents' funerals. Just, there.

As they matured Emma of course noticed how puberty was kind to him. While August went through awkward stages in his preteens, Neal just seemed to sprout into a man over night, free of acne or obvious body odor. Emma would never deny he was physically attractive. His lean body grew to 6'1 at age sixteen and continued to fill out. His physique was that of an athlete. He trained hard and it paid off for him. He was solid with muscle and walked with a confidence that no other teenager could muster.

Being one of four people in your age bracket, living under the same roof, made puberty harder than it should have been. The innocent crushes and awkward flirting that most teenagers vented at school or in extracurriculars were channeled all inside The House.

But Emma was never a typical teenage girl. Yes, she could admit that all two of the guy she was surrounded by were handsome, but that was never of any importance to her. She had one goal since she reached the age of understanding: Queen of Hearts. And no one, not even painfully attractive Neal Cassidy was going to stand in her way.

The one memory of Neal that stood out in Emma's mind, before their dynamic changed, was the night before the Face Election meeting.

When Faces' heirs reached the age of 19 an election meeting was held between all the existing Kings and Queens in the Ace's office. It was an open forum but the candidate needed every vote in their favor to move onto their year of probation before they became an official Face Card at age 20. However, the bylaws did state that if one voter opposed the candidacy, the Ace could overrule.

Grandfather George had past years ago, meaning her father was now the Ace of Spades. Henry and Cora still ruled the Spades until Regina reached the age of 19 the next year. Neal, having become King of Diamonds two years earlier, ruled along side his mother. And finally, August became the sole ruler of the Clubs when both of his parents retired when he came of age at the same time as Neal.

Out of the five Faces and her father Emma didn't know if she should see the position as secured or an adversary. This election was unlike any in the Cards' history. For the first time they were enacting the position of Queen of Hearts.

Emma was overwhelmingly nervous. She knew that if she did not receive the votes she would have to wait a full year before the Faces would meet again to reconsider her. Out of each person in the organization Emma was, hands down, the one most suited for a position. However, this was not just any regular Face position. The Queen of Hearts was undeniably the most powerful female position in the Cards. The only one to outrank her was the Ace of Spades himself.

As you can see, the 19-year-old had reasons to fret.

As she walked down the prestigious hallways of The House to the east wing her stomach turned in knots. Her destination was to see her father, the Ace of Spades. As she came closer to her destination the teen nervously braided her long, honey blonde ponytail. It was well past midnight but the heir knew her father was still in his office.

Although she was only a few weeks past her ninetieth birthday, Emma held an air of wisdom to her. She was sagacious and held authority to a higher standard than the usual pseudo-independent teen.

The fact that she looked much more mature helped her strive for adulthood. Puberty had come and gone without a blink of an eye. She had the occasional zit but her body graciously took on the challenge. She stopped growing at age 14 and still stands at 5'9" to this day. Her muscles elongated and tightened with physical training and exercise. She took pride in her appearance and how she presented herself. She was graciously gorgeous.

As the green-eyed girl reached the tall oak doors of the infamous Ace office she noticed the left door was slightly ajar. Knowing this was unlike her father, Emma stealthily pressed her body against the adjoining wall. That was when she heard the familiar murmurs of her father and the King of Diamonds.

"I can see you feel very passionately about this Neal but what grounds do you base your statements on?" David's soothing voice echoed through the grand office.

"There is a reason no one has been elected for his position yet, sir. How can we expect her to be able to handle the responsibilities of the Red Queen?" The brunette's voice was passionate and solid.

"Well you have witnessed her growth throughout the years, trained with her, you can see she has the determination."

"Yes, I have seen her fortitude but I still think she needs more time." Neal's voice trailed off at the end, almost to lead David into his next sentence.

"I assume this is you telling me you shall not be electing her tomorrow."

"Correct, sir. But I know the laws. I know that you can overturn the vote if you see fit," he paused as Emma assumed her father just nodded at his statement, "But that's why I'm here. I want to convince you to air on the side of caution. Although she is one of the most talented members she still has time to gain more knowledge and power. Her inexperience is going to put herself and her numbers into danger. You of all people know that a first kill is a milestone in our careers. What happens if she cannot handle the pressure?"

Emma cringed at the mention of her first kill. Yes, she had yet to take a life but that was not for lack of trying. Neal had been elected King of Diamonds more than two years earlier and had already successfully completed countless missions, returning with all his numbers each time. Emma had been allowed to attend one mission where August refused to let her out of his sight, let alone fight.

Death did not affect Emma now. She learned to deal with it after her grandparents' passings. Within four years of each other the Cards were without their most prominent founders. At age five she had to watch helplessly as her grandmother was diagnosed with liver cancer. It was slowly draining the life out of Ruth. When she opted out of chemo a year later to spend her last days painlessly with her family, Emma knew she didn't have much time left. Then four years later the Ace was taken from the Cards in a vicious war with their rival organization. They didn't have a name. Everyone just referred to them as Gold's in reference to their despicable leader Robert Gold. George went into battle to protect his men and left his life on the line. David was obviously devastated, along with the rest of the House. As he went through his grieving process he learned how to turn his emotions off when he needed to. It numbed the pain, but also helped him control his ruthlessness as the new Ace.

David's soft voice brought the eavesdropping teenager back to the conversation at hand, "I will take what you have said into consideration." He wasn't a man of very many words.

As Emma heard footsteps coming towards the door that was currently her post she quickly moved across the hall to lean against the opposing wall, in perfect view to address her antagonist. As the brunette pulled open the heavy carved door he was surprised to notice Emma glaring at him just feet away. Closing the door behind him signaled Emma her father was out of earshot, "If you have something to say to me Cassidy, you can say it to my face." She spat out the sentence as if it was venom in her mouth.

Emma was never hot headed or arrogant, she left those petty emotions to the underlings of the Cards. She was known to be the reasonable Nolan and took pride in her judiciousness. Sure, she wasn't as physically strong as August, Neal or any other male in the Cards but she had different skills in her arsenal.

The young King ran a tired hand through his rustled locks but returned the girl's level stare, "If you expect me to bow down to you as Queen you should want that respect to be given willingly, not forced upon by a majority vote. Or worse: the favor of your father."

"I do not expect to be handed this title freely but I also do not need your revere, Sire." The word had an ugly ring to it coming out of her pretty mouth. "Fine." Seeing that this conversation was not going to be productive, Neal started to make his way down the hall. He only reached ten steps before Emma spoke again, "What do you want from me?" the desperation was clear in her voice.

Neal stopped and turned his head over his left shoulder, "Fight me. Prove that you know what you are doing. Not in a simulation in training class. The real thing, with someone that obviously has an advantage over you. If you can get a kill shot you will have my vote."