Chapter 2:

Thanks so much for the reviews! They are very encouraging.

Also, I want to apologize for the minor errors in Chapter 1. I wrote it in haste right before class and did not re-read before posting. The second chapter will be better.

I do not own any of these characters. If I did I would probably not be going to grad school.

Veronica did not usually wander into town during the day if she did not absolutely have to and it seemed that this was the case today. She slipped on a navy button-down hooded sweatshirt and over it a knee length black leather jacket. This was attire she generally wore on her nightly excursions, which were mainly to The Rabbit Hole, where she had gained quite the reputation for consuming mass quantities of alcohol despite her stature, which was small but surprising sturdy, muscular even. She could almost see herself as others might as she was walking through town. She no doubt appeared unfriendly and unapproachable. Her walk was more of a swagger, something that should have been all hips but in her case was all shoulders. It was a defensive kind of walk, clearly guarded and now she really needed to be.

She stood outside of Granny's cursing herself for quitting smoking before the curse was broken. How was she supposed to know that time was actually standing still? Steadying herself she took a broad step into the diner, figuring that people would be able to tell her where the Sheriff was.

"Veronica, what the hell are you doing here in the light of day? I don't think I have seen you in town in a…" that is where Leroy stopped short. He took a closer look at the woman after having clapped a hand on her leather-clad shoulder. He continued, "Hey sister, you look a little green, you see a ghost or something?"

"Uh, sort of. Hey, do you know where the Sheriff is?" she said in a voice not quite her own. It sounded like what some people would think of as a telephone voice. It was higher than usual and oddly polite for regarding someone who has seen her drink her weight in whiskey. She was nervous.

He pointed across the diner; "Sure, she is having breakfast over there with her kid."

Her kid? She thought. She had not been privy to the drama around the battle for Henry's love first hand, but she had heard about it from others. She still thought of Henry as Regina's, something he would probably refute. This was the first time she was going to come face to face with the woman who had come into town making waves and breaking curses.

As she approached, she saw her and Henry laughing at something. For a moment there was a look on the blonde's face that she recognized. It took her a second to place it, but there it was she was Dorothy…well, Regina's Dorothy. Hero's always have that look in their eyes, a glint of righteousness. It was a realization that almost made Veronica turn around and forget the whole thing. But, she forced herself to remember that things were different now. She was different. She was trying to be good, as Dorothy had wanted her to be. Ah crap, here goes nothing…

"Excuse me, Sheriff Swan. I need to speak with you its important."

The blonde turned her attention to Veronica. With a quizzical look on her face she tried to process if she knew this woman or if she had even seen her before. After nothing seemed to come to mind, she said, "Hi…uh…I don't think we have ever met before. Who are you?"

"I'm Veronica Broome. I run the local tattoo parlor. I…"

The blonde stopped her suddenly. "Oh, yeah. I have seen that place. I meant to stop in there and see who ran it but then I ended up in a different realm. So that's your place? Cool."

"Yeah" oddly proud of her little space for a moment, even though she had not been getting much business from the town since the curse broke. Tattoos are an odd concept for most of the fairy tale characters. If the town had more pirates business would be booming…

An alert voice broke her from her revelry. "Who are you really?" Henry looked as if he would not accept any wavering on her part. He was all business, despite the fact that one of his hands was wrapped around a hot chocolate and the other was in the middle of paging through a comic book.

"Well, I guess I am…uh…was, the Wicked Witch of the West."

"What, no way!" Surprisingly, this had come from Emma. "That has to be one of my favorite all time movies and I have to say that the Wicked Witch was always kind of my favorite character. Dorothy Gale was kind of lame."

At this, Veronica could only smile. She knew exactly which movie that Emma was referring, but it was refreshing to hear about someone who liked her. Usually, everybody absolutely loves Dorothy. Hell, everybody loves Judy Garland. " You know, during the curse I always hated that movie. People are all supposed to love that movie…an American classic they say, but you know, they got it all wrong." She pauses for a moment, remembering how it really was, "Just for the record I would have never hurt that dog. I like dogs….Oh, and Dorothy is not that bad, but that is a story for another time. I suppose."

Emma looked dejected for a moment, clearly wanting to hear more. Absent mindedly she glanced at her watch and sat straight up in the diner booth, "Hey, Henry, it is time that you were off to school. She glanced at Veronica apologetically for a moment before standing and ushering her son to the door of the diner, giving him a peck on the cheek before he walked outside to catch the school bus. Emma watched him for a moment and stood half in and half out of the diner as she sent one last wave in his direction.

Wow. She loves him. Like Regina loves him? Things would be so much better if he had both mothers, loving him, caring for him and not necessarily at each other's throats all the time. Those scenarios happen in perfect worlds and this world, as most had observed both before and after the curse was broken, was far far away from perfect. As she was thinking, Veronica had settled herself in the abandoned booth and was still making herself comfortable as the sheriff came back to join her.

Emma sat across from her and asked, " So, what was it that you were going to tell me?"

Veronica looked down at her hands, which felt oddly lonely without something in them, a drink or a cigarette maybe… She looked up and met the green eyes of the woman sitting across from her and decided to be as direct as possible. "So, Cora and Regina have joined forces. They are going around the town gathering all those who are powerful and have been evil in the past in hopes of taking over the town. I thought you should know, since you are the Sheriff and since you essentially hold the key to stopping this whole battle and getting Regina to see reason."

The blonde looked incredulous as she spat out the following, " What do you mean reason? Yes, I know Regina did not kill the cricket, but my experiences with her to this point have made me aware of the fact that Regina is beyond reason."

Veronica shifted her position as she prepared to provide the Sheriff with a dose of reality, "You are right. In the past that would be true. In the present, however, I feel Regina is lost. I saw it in her eyes today. She wants now more than ever what she has always wanted…love. I really think this is all about Henry. She wants him to love her again and if she cannot get his love she is going to try and take it."

"Okay if what you are saying is true, we are going to need help. We should head to the Sheriff's station. Also, just so you know, on the way I want you to tell me your story, if you don't mind." The Sheriff pleaded with me with her eyes, clearly hoping I would not turn her down.

"I don't mind. I suppose. It's just that we may need to circle the block a few times because the telling may take a while…" At this both women stood and headed to Emma's yellow VW bug.