"Why do you ask what / when the delicious question is when? / The only difference between past and present / ...is semantics. / Lives, lived, will live. / Dies, died, will die. / If we could perceive time as it really was... / what reason would grammar professors have to get out of bed? / Like us all, Lady Comstock exists across time. / She is both alive and dead . / She perceives being both. / She finds this condition... disagreeable." - Robert and Rosalind Lutece (Bioshock Infinite)


"She's waking up," a voice said. "Vital signs appear normal, but she has taken a bit of damage from the crash." Sarah's eyes fluttered open to the buzzing sounds of machines and wires connected to her body. She attempted to get up from the bed when a hand pushed her back firmly to the bed. What did he mean by crash? She didn't remember crashing at all. "I know you're shocked, but you are still in a critical condition and you cannot move."

Sarah could barely keep herself awake. "I never crashed," she said, refusing to believe it. Impossible.

The man in the white lab coat shook his head. "You were in a car accident," he replied. "You are very lucky to be alive. The damage to the car was worse than your injuries."

She again refused to believe it by continually arguing with the man. She did remember driving a car, and when she passed the sign into a town, she saw a white light blinding her. After that, Sarah could not recall anything else. "But that's not possible," Sarah whispered. "There was nothing I hit."

"Do you remember anything else before the accident? Do you remember your name at all?"

She did remember her name. It was… 'Sarah!' She thought she heard a voice calling her, but there was nobody except for her and the doctor. "Sarah," she said. The name came flooding back to her almost right away. "My name is Sarah and I was last living in a shelter for teenagers in New York." The last memory of the shelter was… What was it? She blanked out, trying to figure what happened in the shelter on the day she left.

"Do you remember your age?"

For some reason she had to think about it for a couple minutes but managed to finally come around. "Sixteen." Or is it seventeen? She thought. It really didn't make a difference because she already told the doctor.

The doctor smiled softly. "Well, Sarah, you are healing quite nicely. If it continues, you might be able to leave soon."

"T-Thanks."

My body is extremely empty, Sarah thought, lying back into the hospital bed. The physical pain wasn't even part of it. Sarah could blank it out for a time but more than that, there was something out of place. Before the car crash she knew she once understood who she was. Everything made sense. Now it was all in shambles. She could not understand any of it.

"Where am I?" She asked before the doctor left the room.

"Storybrooke."

Sarah never heard of such a place. She wondered if it was a dream. In New York, she desperately wanted to leave the shelter she stayed in. No amount of force could ever make her return there. Those memories of all those years she had there… were they real? At least some of the memories were off. Sarah had yelled at one of the workers in the shelter to leave her alone because they thought she was doing drugs. That was definitely real. They grabbed her wrist so tight, it caused lines from their fingers onto her skin.

"Excuse me?" a woman with long blonde hair stepped into the room. "You're Sarah, right? My name is Emma Swan." She held out her hand. Sarah reluctantly shook it. "I understand you were in an accident... mind if I ask you some questions?"

"Sure," Sarah replied, although she was unsure why Emma needed to ask her anything at all.

"Why exactly did you come here for? Vacation?"

"I would actually love to know the same thing," Sarah said. Emma gave her a stern look, and crossed her arms vigilantly. Sarah had not given Emma the answer she wanted. "I don't know why I am here."

Emma unfolded a map of Maine with a drawn line from New York City to another written word 'Storybrooke'. "Explain this, then."

Sarah examined it closely. It was not her writing. Someone else drew on it. "I don't remember doing that!" she exclaimed. "And besides I am not sure what the big deal is."

"We've had a number of crimes here, Sarah. I'm sorry, but I need to take you in for custody."

Once the doctor, who Emma called "Doctor Whale", examined her and allowed Sarah to leave, Emma took her to the police station. The police station was something familiar to her. Countless amount of times she found herself there, always in trouble with the cops but they could not charge her as an adult and the crimes she committed were nothing beyond stealing. She paid her time through community service under the watchful eyes of police officers. If Emma was a cop, then Sarah hated her immediately.

Not only had she never heard of 'Storybrooke', she never saw anything like it. She didn't once leave the city but the small town wasn't exactly what she thought it would be. Unlike the big city, everything was quiet. No loud cars to interrupt her thought or crowds of people to worry about bumping into.

Emma brought Sarah to an office, where another man waited for her. He stood nice and tall, and smiled unexpectedly at Sarah. "I'm glad you made a full recovery. Dr. Whale said there was little damage when you were brought into the hospital."

"Cut to the chase," Sarah said. "What do you want?"

"For starters, my name is David. I'm the Sheriff of this town – "

Sarah sat back into her chair, crossing her arms. The setting of a police station, no matter how small, sent goosebumps down her spine. "Police, sheriff." She shrugged, not caring for the words. "Either way, you're trouble because your kind always gets me into it. What did I do?"

"We want answers from you," Emma said, sounding a little impatient with her. "How did you know how to get to Storybrooke?"

"I don't know!"

Emma shook her head. "That isn't the right answer."

"I really don't remember anything."

"You're lying."

David's smile turned into a scowl. "Emma."

"I can tell she's lying."

Sarah was close to blowing up. Instead, she did exactly what her psychologist told her: Breathe and count to ten. She was able to ignore the anger, and move past it. It got her out of a lot of trouble before. "Look, I blacked out when my car crashed or whatever it did. I saw a light, and when I woke up, I was in the hospital. If I had an answer, I would tell you." Emma and David looked at each other for a long time. She may not be able to convince them her story, but it was the only thing she could to do to make sure she was cleared for the time being.

"I don't think she's lying, Emma," David said to her.

"Oh really? You said that about Tamara and Greg."

"Yes but we don't know anything yet."

"Who are they?" Sarah asked, confused.

Neither of them replied. David slightly leaned over. "This might be a mistake, but we can't afford to let anymore outsiders come here. You're going to stay with us from here on out so we can monitor you."

Sarah sat back again, rubbing her forehead. "Son of a…" she muttered, wanting to kick the closest thing next to her.


The silence got to her soon enough. She could not tolerate to hold in her thoughts any longer from him. "I can't be a mother to him," she said as she stared down at their smiling child. He took her hand, shaking his head. "I'm serious." He wrapped his arms around her, embracing her tightly from behind. "He will find me eventually, you know that, right?" She tore away from him, looking out the window to the clear skies and the world ahead of her. That man was out there searching for her and if she stayed, it would make it hard on her family.

"Forget him," he said quickly, attempting to take her hand again. She pulled away from him. "We can start over, make a new life for ourselves – "

It was her turn to shake her head. "No," she replied, her voice beginning to crack. "That is an oath you cannot keep." He had a habit of lying, and sure, she understood why he did at times yet it occurred to her then she could never be with a man who lied. What drove her to him? She never quite knew.

"Please stay," he begged her. "If not for me, then for him. Please." Those words alone made her stop dead. She turned around, staring into the amber eyes of a young infant who was barely the age of one. "We don't have to stay here. We can leave tomorrow."

"If I stay I want you to promise me." She took his hands and placed them around her neck loose enough where she was not choking. "You will not let him take me back."

He removed his hands from her neck, placing them on her shoulders. "It won't come to that."


It had been ages since Peter Pan last saw her. He lost count after twenty years. The woman who left him, most likely for another man, would never see him again. He never understood her reasons for leaving and he didn't care. By the time the next morning arrived, Pan realized she already had gone. "Something wrong?" he heard Felix approaching him. Felix was the only one awake at that time of hour.

Pan chuckled. Felix was always worried about him. The poor boy would not learn. "Oh, just thinking about my plan, that's all. How are our employees making out?"

"They have located and found him."

"Good. Then I expect the two of them will be arriving shortly. Please, do me a favor and greet them when they do arrive."

Felix nodded in response. "I will. Don't worry."

It would be at last a good week or less before the woman, Tamara, and her partner, Greg, brought the child with them to Neverland. The worst part was waiting for it to happen. If he was able to go there himself to take him… then Pan would. Sadly, the defenses in Storybrooke were better than he thought.

"If I stay I want you to promise me. You will not let him take me back." Why am I thinking of that now? Pan thought. The woman was probably dead already. She was dead to him a long time ago but the memories of her never left. And they never would.

"You look pale. You sure you're all right?"

"Thinking about something else," Pan replied. He looked up into the sky, feeling a couple of rain drops falling on his head. "A memory, I suppose." What was he doing? Pan never told Felix anything like that. Not about what happened back then. For all Felix knew, he never knew the woman who left him. He would never forgive her for what she did to him. Leaving him with the thing he was forced to hold onto and desperately wanted to rid of.

"What else are you thinking about?"

Pan shrugged. "A ghost from the past."


A|N: My first OUAT fanfic! GAH. I hope this is good. I enjoyed writing this. Of course there is MUCH more to come later on. Reviews of all kinds are welcome! Especially criticism. By the way, this is an AU fanfic. Also go to my tumblr and feel free to send me some 'asks/questions'. It's kelly087 tumblr com (with periods obviously). Tell me if the link isn't working.For anyone who is wondering, the summary of the story is included but not in any chapters published so far. Probably sometime later.