This story takes place during season 1…before Emma got her job as Sheriff.

Emma got the waitress's attention at Granny's after she' d downed her second refill of coffee. She was down to her last one hundred bucks. Rent was due in two weeks and she'd promised Henry ice cream. That didn't leave any space in her budget for luxuries like lunch.

"Hey- Ruby, right?"

The thin girl with bright red extensions clipped into an Amy Winehouse beehive put her hand on the hip of her short shorts and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you guys…hiring right now?"

"Nope." Said Granny, who ran the diner, as she walked by the two. "If you haven't noticed, this town is as tight as my granddaughter's pants. Are you going to want anything to go with your third cup of coffee or what?"

"Just the refill thanks." Emma said glumly, and the older woman rolled her eyes, refilled her cup and moved on. After she was out of earshot, Ruby leaned in close.

"Granny's never hiring. She pays me below minimum wage because we're family and she knows I won't report her. But if you need a job, I know a place that is that you might be a fit for."

Emma's eyebrows shot up.

"I'm doing a shift over there myself tonight. If you want to meet me here tonight around ten I can give you a ride over."

"At ten? PM? Is it like…an all night diner or…?"

Ruby looked both ways before leaning in even further. "Girl, obviously it's a strip club. Storybrooke's dirty little secret. But most of the girls in town have put in a few shifts at one time or another to make rent. Remember that Ashley chick, who almost sold her baby to Mr. Gold?"

Emma nodded.

"She met her boyfriend when she did a spin around the pole and one of her Lucite heels flew off and landed right in his lap. Now he's supporting her working down at the cannery. "

"Sounds like a fairy tale ending." Emma said sarcastically.

"Let's just say if you get a couple regulars, you'll never worry about money again." Ruby said, snapping her gum and then calling over Emma's head, "Oh hi Graham!"

Graham's cheeks turned bright pink.

It was a long ride through the woods in Ruby's low rider. She was snapping her gum and beating her jewel-encrusted fake nails on her steering wheel in time with a blaring rock song. The pounding music didn't encourage questions as they drove through winding woody roads. When they parked in back of a low, long A-frame building with red neon letters spelling out "UNDERLAND" out front.

"I'll introduce you to the owner. Just follow my lead."

Although it was quiet in the wood, gravel-scattered parking lot once the door opened music seemed to roll out of the inside of the club in waves. The air smelled heavy with cheap, sweet perfumes, and the lights were a tangle of bright red and a cooler magenta tone. There was a bar right when you walked in and beyond it, separated by a beaded curtain, Emma could dimly make out figures twirling and strutting in the distance.

"Hey Ursula." Red called over the heavy base of Slow Motion by Juvenile. "I have a friend I wanted to introduce to you."

A large, heavyset woman with a shock of white hair and maniacal eyebrows turned around, a sneer carved in red lipstick on her face. She wore a black sparkly halter top that was cut low over her greyish decolletage and was busily polishing some of the bar glasses.

"You're not working the bar tonight, are you?" Ruby asked, leaning against a stool.

"No, giving the stemware a little spit polish. Also, you have ten minutes before your shift, so let's make this quick." she shot a glance at Emma."You want to dance?"

Emma felt on the spot. She wasn't quite sure if she really did want this gig but she didn't want to get into a debate about it so she nodded. Ursula started going through a familiar spiel, ticking points off on her fingers, the tip of each sparkling with a blood-colored nail.

"Well, first off the house fee is $150. On a busy night, if you hustle, you can make as much as six hundred, so that's more than fair. No drugs. No hookers. No fighting. Period. Zip. Zilch. If you're going to use the lockers you're responsible for buying your own padlock and if you don't and your things get stolen that's not my concern. Capiche?"

"Sure…" said Emma unsteadily. A group of guys was filtering in past them, and she felt a surge of alarm at the idea of guys pawing at her while she was in her unmentionables. She had definitely never done anything like that before.

"No touching." Said Ursual, as though reading her mind. "You can touch them, they can't touch you. Can you actually dance?"

Emma definitely couldn't. "Sure." She bluffed.

"Well that'll make a change." Ursula said chummily. "By the way, what's your name, Princess?"

"Emma." Emma squeaked.

"Well tell you what: hang around for a bit, meet some of the other girls, see how we run things here and if you're still interested tomorrow get yourself some… proper gear and shoes and show up at 10 and we'll throw you in the deep end and see if you swim. Ruby, get going. Thanks for the introduction. Now go get your damn clothes off." She blew the dust out of a shot glass and filled it to the brim and pushed it towards Ruby, who threw it back without a blink.

"Follow me." Ruby said, and lead Emma through the beaded curtain.