This started as a drabble and after many requests I decided to continue it into a full blown fic. This first part is the initial drabble and is written very differently from how the rest will be, hence; prologue.
xxx
From day one they are made–Lincoln can't lie for shit and while Emma has no question that he is utterly smitten with the small brunette sass that is supposedly his wife-she is certain that they aren't looking for a place to settle down as they claim. They are staying at Granny's and Emma asks Ruby to keep an ear on them.
("Ew, Emma! What the hell!"
"They're lying. Come on Ruby, please? It'll be like old times."
"I hated old times and you know it"
"No blood this time. I promise. Please?"
"Fine. But you owe me.")
When she serves her cocoa the next morning there are dark circles under the brunette's eyes but she mutters that she is right, to meet her at the docks later (the young couple is a couple booths over from she and Killian). Killian raises an eyebrow and Emma gives him a look that says she will explain later.
x
"Everything here is so off." It is Daisy's consensus and she is sticking to it. She feels like she's walked into some sort of aggressive planned-community or cult–when she tells Lincoln the way the odd connection of the people of the town makes her neck tingle he rolls his eyes–but he doesn't disagree.
She feels the eyes on them wherever they go. They are outsiders–it doesn't get anymore obvious. These people do not want them here–every one of them knows that they don't belong and everyone of them is suspicious of them.
It gets worse when she catches the blonde who is supposedly the sheriff staring at her again and again over their breakfast. She had given them the warmest greeting when they arrived the day before ("Who the hell are you two?" "…Um. Mary. And Thomas. We're looking to move into town." "Hm.") Prickly. Prickly was the word. Her gaze feels dangerous and probing. When the man opposite her glances over his shoulder at her, too, she looks quickly down to her menu. She isn't sure how, but she is sure they have already been made.
x
It gets weirder because Emma is certain someone follows her to the dock to meet Ruby. She feels eyes prickling on the back of her neck, is sure she hears footsteps–but no matter how frequently she looks over her shoulder there is no one there.
"I didn't get much," Ruby tells her, voice hushed, "they were careful–but I think they made a call. Gave an update to someone. Are we in trouble, Emma?"
"I…don't know."
She does know, and this time when she hears something she doesn't hesitate–throwing a tendril of power over her shoulder as she pivots to face whatever she tangles in her trap. There is a noise of shock and the man–Thomas–is dragged hovering from whatever illusion he was hidden in. He is startled, hair standing oddly on end–and she flicks her wrist, sending him sprawling onto the docks as Ruby makes a noise of shock behind her. He peers up at her with wide eyes but doesn't make any attempt to move.
x
Daisy regrets sending him off alone almost as soon as he has disappeared down the road behind the other blonde, but she tries not to let herself worry. She is a sheriff, an officer–she may think they are liars but whatever she knows, or doesn't know–Daisy doesn't think she is the greatest threat this eerie town has to offer. She wants to investigate the center of the odd readings they'd received–the portal-esque readings they'd received that had brought them here in the first place. She wants to see what is happening in City Hall.
Except, she only gets halfway there before the man who'd had breakfast with the sheriff is blatantly stepping in front of her, single eyebrow raised.
"Can I help you with something?"
"Aye, love–matter of fact, you can."
x
The problem with Storybrooke is that it is, for all intents and purposes, an inactive-volcano–in the case that a volcano spewed Other-Universes instead of lava. It is a portal that has lost its buzz. The problem with that is that when Daisy follows the odd man into the sheriffs station to find Lincoln cuffed to a damn chair, she moves towards him and is blocked by the blonde who is becoming far more than annoying.
"Let me through."
"I'll let you through when you tell me what you two are actually doing here."
The problem is that Daisy is protective of her team and Emma is protective of her town and neither of them hear the warnings from the men when the room begins to shiver with their raising voices.
The problem is that suddenly the walls disappear and the ceiling turns green and… they are not in Storybrooke anymore.