Title: Vengeance, Sacrifice, and Forgiveness

Author: AoN

Word Count: 4,210

Genre: Drama, Adventure

Rating: PG-13

Feedback: Please and thank you! Let me know what I'm doing right or doing wrong.

Summary: With the Evil Queen's curse weakening and Regina struggling to keep Storybrooke under control, hidden secrets and lies from long ago are beginning to surface – and they want their happily ever after.

Chapter Two

Sheriff Swan had taken away the thief a few hours ago and Ruby had been tossing and turning in her bed ever since. It had been damn near impossible to fall asleep while her mind raced through a million thoughts a second. How was she able to track that woman? And who the hell was she anyway? Ruby felt as if she knew her from somewhere, but where? And did her eye really glow red? Did the Sheriff see that as well? Also, why did she want her clothes? It seemed like an odd thing to want to steal considering that there were more valuable items in her room.

These questions, and many more, had kept her awake until the exhaustion of a double shift and the idea of another dragged her into an extremely uneasy sleep, one filled with nightmares.

Nightmares of her running through a forest. Although it was a dark forest, she moved through the trees with easy. She knew the forest well, but she was not the only creature that did. A howl in the distance reminded her that she was not alone and the ferocious barking coming from behind told her she was running for her life. The rushing wind caused her red hood to be blown off, revealing her long brunette hair that now flowed as she continued to run. She could not stop, she had to keep running.

She took a quick glance over her shoulder. The beast was getting closer. Her two legs were no comparison to its four. A sense of panic was overcoming her. The beast was going to catch her, rip her to shreds and there was nothing she could do but run. She focused her attention forward, willing herself to continue running, but what she saw in front of her caused her eyes to grow wide. A wolf was charging directly at her. However, a sense of reassurance crossed her upon seeing its eyes – one red, one blue. She knew this wolf. This wolf was her ally.

When only a matter of yards separated them, she fell on to her knees and tucked her head under her arms. The beast prepared to pounce on its prey, its beady yellow eyes locked on and not heeding any attention to the wolf that just leapt over the bundle of red. The two creatures met in midair. The beast, a monstrous wolf itself, was twice the size of the runt that managed to sink its teeth into its neck. The momentum the runt wolf had gathered aided it to pin down the beast.

The women in red looked up in time to see the wolf jump off the beast and take an attack stance. The fur on its back stood on end and, ears lowered, its teeth shown as it snarled. She pulled her dagger from its sheath, grasping the hilt firmly. As the beast began to pull itself up from the ground, she threw the dagger and the blade embedded itself into the beast's side who roared in pain before turning its attention back to her. The wolf would not allow it. The wolf threw itself at the beast once more, latching on its neck again – an action that only served to annoy it. The beast grabbed the wolf with its claws and tossed the animal aside. The wolf quickly scampered to its feet, ready to protect the woman again, but the beast had taken off.

The wolf's multicolored eyes met the woman's and a silent agreement was made: this was not the end of the Big Bad Wolf.

Ruby's eyes sprang open and she quickly shot up into a sitting position in her bed. She was drenched and shaking as she tried to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding rapidly in her chest, it was deafening. She leaned forward and cradled her head in her hands as she stared down into her lap which was covered by her blanket. She did not dare close her eyes. That dream… It seemed so real. She did not want to see that creature again, whatever it was. She knew she would if she closed her eyes and she was already terrified enough.

After Ruby caught her breath, she sighed heavily and laid back down. As soon as her head hit the pillow, the alarm clock on the nightstand went off. It was time for the morning shift at the diner.

xxxx

"Where did you get this?"

The question rang throughout the sheriff's office. Regina was staring daggers at the woman behind bars. Emma, for a moment, could not tell if the bars were there to keep the thief in or to keep her out of strangling reach from Regina. The woman in the cell did not budge – could she not move out of fear?

"I take it the necklace belongs to you, Madam Mayor," Emma commented.

"This necklace," Regina spoke up. "This necklace was given to me by my father when I was a little girl. It has been missing for years. Where did you get it?" she demanded once again.

"I stole it from your manor," the woman answered, surprising Emma. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

A spark of anger exploded from the mayor. With her free hand, she pounded against one of the metal bars causing both of the other two people to jump slightly. Obviously, it was not what she wanted to hear, not in that tone. "Don't you dare play these games with me, Ms – Sheriff Swan, with whom am I speaking?"

"I don't know," Emma replied, bracing herself.

"You don't know?" Regina turned around to face the blonde. "Do you even know how to be a sheriff, Miss Swan?"

"Besides the fact that she refuses to give me her name, she has no form of ID on her," Emma began to explain, folding her arms over her chest. "I ran her prints through the system. Nothing came up. I am still working-"

"Get things done, Sheriff," Regina stated bitterly. "As for the necklace, I'm taking it with me. Keep me up-to-date with this trouble maker."

"Up-to-date?" Emma bit back a laugh. "All she's done is scare an old lady and her granddaughter to replace the rags she was wearing."

"Are you defending her now, Sheriff Swan?" Regina accused. "This necklace has been in my family for generations. It's an heirloom that is intended for Henry to have one day and that woman stole it," she pointed out, pocketing the bag in her jacket.

"You said yourself it went missing," Emma stated. "It's dangerous to make false accusations, Madam Mayor, especially when the law is involved."

"How else did she get a hold of it?"

"I didn't steal it."

Emma looked over to the cell as Regina turned around to face the unknown woman once more. The woman was frowning, eyes narrowed and appearing to be upset that Regina was taking the necklace. It was one thing when Emma had it, but Regina was going to walk out of this building with it. She was not going to have that necklace again.

Regina smirked slightly and shook her head. "You're a piece of work, you know that?"

"I did not steal it," the woman repeated.

The mayor did not say another word, not to the woman and not to the sheriff. She turned on her heel and made her way out of the office. Emma leaned against her desk, arms still crossed, and waited for the door to close before she spoke again. "Four sentences," she stated. "It took you four sentences to get under her skin. That's rather impressive."

"I didn't steal it," the woman repeated for a third time.

"I wish you'd say your name that many times," Emma said with a hint of a sarcastic tone before growing more serious. "I know you didn't. I know you're not lying, not about that, but I also know you do have a name. Are you afraid of what I'm going to dig up if you tell me?"

"You're not going to find anything."

"Let me guess, because you're not going to tell me, right?" Emma concluded.

"Because there is no record to find," the woman corrected. "Tell me I'm lying, Sheriff Swan."

"Just because you believe there's no record doesn't mean it doesn't exist," Emma replied. "Last night, you said you're from around here. You must have some sort of record here – someone must know you. Friends, family."

The woman shook her head. "No family, no friends," she answered.

"Sounds lonely."

"I've always been a lone… person."

"A lone person?" Emma repeated, sinking down into her office chair. This was now becoming the longest genuine conversation she was having with the thief. She would do her best to keep it going. She could put off the afternoon patrol a little while more. "I find that hard to believe. It seems like everyone knows each other here whether they want to or not."

The young woman sat back down as well onto the rather uncomfortable bed in the cell that confined her, releasing a single laugh. "I don't doubt that, but I limit the time I spend here in town," she admitted before furrowing her eyebrows. She met Emma's eyes and tilted her head. "Why am I telling you this? You tackeld and threw me in here."

"Hey, I'm only doing my job," Emma defended. "Maybe you've realized that I want to help you. You were wearing rags. You stole clothes – of little value," she added as a second thought. "You were trying to what? Stay warm?"

"The girl did ram me against a dresser before I could find a non-red jacket. I can't pull off that color well," the woman admitted, still able to find a bit of humor in the situation. "It gets a little cold in the woods."

Emma eyebrows furrowed as she sat up straight, hoping she misheard. "Wait, you live in the woods? For how long?" she asked, leaning forward slightly in her seat.

The woman paused for a moment to think about the question. "Since I was about five."

"Five," Emma repeated, frowning. She had not been expecting an answer like that. "How old are you now?"

"Twenty-three," she answered. "And it's Lucy. My name – Lu, for short."

xxxx

They were minutes away from the start of their official lunch rush and Ruby was struggling to stay awake. No amount of coffee was doing the trick – she even triple checked to make sure she was not drinking decaf by accident. She was not, she was just that tired. The incident and the nightmares were a perfect combination for exhaustion. The cook had taken note and had been pestering her to just take the day off – to call in another waitress, but she could not. They were all feeling a bit over worked. It was only right that Ruby took her fair share of the diner's shifts.

And with those shifts came those fair amount of breaks which Ruby decided to take now, before Storybrooke's definition of a rush began. She snuck off into the employee's backroom area where she prepared herself another cup of coffee. Cup in hand, she took a seat at an old table tucked away in a corner. Carefully, she took a couple sips from the hot coffee before setting it down. Ruby leaned forward slightly and rested her head against her arm which was now serving as a makeshift pillow.

She had only stopped moving for a second, but that was all that was needed. Ruby had nodded off asleep and had slipped back into the mysterious forest. The beast had escaped, but she was still staring at the multicolored eyed wolf. She took a couple steps closer and knelt down in front of the wolf.

"We make a good team, you and I, but it escaped," she found herself saying, taking the wolf's face into her hands. "I know, my fault, pup. I wasn't expecting it to have picked up my trail, but you were brave," she commented, watching the wolf's tail wag back and forth slightly.

The young woman scooted back slightly and began to examine the wolf's body. She immediately frowned coming across the wolf's right side. There were four deep claw marks running vertically just above the hip. "You're injured," she murmured, biting down on her lip. "If I can find the right herbs – and I will – I can dull the pain and fix you up," she said, scratching the wolf under the chin who whimpered. "Just rest for now, okay? That beast won't be back any time soon," she reassured, helping the wolf lay down on its non-injured side.

"Ruby!"

Immediately, the young woman snapped back into reality. The cook had stepped into the backroom as well, looking for her. "You've been missing for twenty minutes," he stated. "Call someone in. You need to go home."

"No, I'm okay," Ruby began to protest.

"No," the cook said sternly. "You're not. Go home for the day. Come back when you've gotten some sleep, alright?"

xxxx

The patrol unit pulled up to the elementary school. Emma shifted the car into park and killed the engine. She sat in the parking lot for a moment to clear her mind before getting out. If it was not still lunch time, the kids were still outside for their afternoon recess, giving Emma a small window of time to drop in on her roommate. She made her way inside, roaming the empty halls until she came across the familiar classroom. She stood in the middle of the doorway and knocked on the door frame. The sudden noise caught the attention of Mary Margaret who had been concentrating on grading a small stack of assignments.

"Emma, hey," she said standing up.

"No, don't get up," Emma replied, walking down one of the rows of desks to get to the front of the room. "Sorry to bother you at work," she apologized.

"Oh no, don't worry about it! The kids are still outside," Mary Margaret said, sitting back down. "I heard you had a busy night last night. I was at the diner this morning, Ruby told me everything. Poor girl looked so tired."

"Don't blame her," Emma mumbled, taking a seat on top of one of the small desks. "It's scary, knowing someone has gone through you things, violating even."

"Is it true that only an outfit was taken?" Mary Margaret asked. "I mean, that's odd…"

"The whole story's strange," Emma admitted. "But she's not lying – Ruby or Lucy."

"Lucy?" Mary Margaret repeated. "So you got a name."

Emma nodded. "Well, barely," she corrected, receiving a rather perplexed expression from her roommate. From the top, Emma began telling the story which included the events from last night at the bed and breakfast and all the way until she had left her office to make her rounds in town. "And just before coming here, I stopped by the high school to request a yearbook from when she should have graduated – not a single Lucy in the class – even in the year prior and after. Finding any legal documents without a last name is going to be difficult and, if she's really been that low key, nothing will come out of scanning the Mirror's archive."

"Alone in the forest for eighteen years? Since she was five?" Mary Margaret questioned, stuck on that detail. "Emma, how is that even at all possible? It doesn't make sense."

"I know it doesn't make sense," Emma agreed.

"Because it's not true!"

Both women sat up straight and turned their attention to the back of the room where Hentry was standing in the doorway. "It's all about Operation Cobra!"

"Henry," Emma began. "How long have you been there?"

"I heard the whole story," Henry confessed, walking over to the front of the room. Mary Margaret had told Emma that Henry would often come in about ten minutes early from recess to help her organize for the afternoon lessons. Since he was standing here, it meant that it was later than Emma thought it to be.

"Well, uh, Henry," Mary Margaret began. "Who do you think she could be?" she asked, entertaining the idea of the curse. "Someone who's been living away from civilization, in a forest, for most of their life?"

"There's Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel," Henry was quick to answer. "But if she's been alone, I think our best bet is Rapunzel."

Emma nodded slowly, eyebrows raised. "Well, she does have long hair – not that long though," she commented.

"Rapunzel makes sense though," Henry said. "Rapunzel's parents left her when she was little."

"Maybe I'm Rapunzel then-"

"Impossible," Henry immediately interrupted. "Did she say anything about her parents?"

Emma shook her head. "Nor did I ask. If her story's true, that's gotta be a touchy subject. I'm lucky I got a name. For some reason, she started to trust me. If I'm going to figure her out, I have to keep that trust."

"And how are you going to do that?" Henry asked.

The question caused Emma to meet Mary Margaret's eyes. It was a gaze that told the women everything. Mary Margaret's shoulders slumped slightly. "You want her to stay with us? Emma, we don't even know her."

"No, we don't," Emma agreed. "But if we don't let her, she'll head right back out into the woods. She has no one here."

"What about her bail?"

"I'm going to bail her out," Emma replied. "She was just trying to survive. She doesn't deserve to be sent to jail for a pair of clothes."

"Emma-"

"Just come by the sheriff's department after school," Emma interjected. "That's all I ask."

Mary Margaret sighed heavily. She knew exactly why Emma was advocating so hard about this. This Lucy had come from a similar background as the blonde if the story was true and she had really riled Regina up. Emma wanted to find out more and wanted to do right by the girl. She could not keep her locked up in the sheriff's office and if she just let her go, would Emma be able to find her again? Granted, it was Emma's job to find people, but would she be able to track this girl down in the forest? Mary Margaret did not have time to continue this conversation, not right now. The children would be back inside at any moment now.

"Okay, I'll come by."

xxxx

The cook told her to get some sleep, but she could not. The last two times she had, she had been taken away to that dark forest, to a battle against that vicious monster. How could Ruby sleep when that beast threatened to reappear again? Not to mention that wolf – that wolf with those eyes, that wolf that protected her from that beast and was injured because of it. No, she could not go back to sleep, not without answers. That wolf – no, that woman had answers. She had to have answers.

Instead of taking the short walk back to the bed and breakfast, Ruby had decided to take a slightly longer walk – one that brought her to the sheriff's department which was lacking said sheriff. She, then, could have gone back to Granny's, but she stayed instead, taking a seat in the empty hallway just outside the sheriff's office. Ruby crossed her arms over her chest and slumped down in the chair. Maybe she should have called ahead, but this was better than being in bed, in that –

-forest. She looked around her surroundings. The hallway had disappeared, replaced by trees, as far as she could see. She was walking a familiar path, carrying a basket full of various goods. She was about to deliver them to a person. A person was living in these woods, trying to hide from unwanted attention. It was a friend of hers, that was to whom she would be delivering the goods.

There was a rustling of bushes from behind her, causing her to smile. "Are you protecting me again, little wolf?" she asked.

A small whimper confirmed her question. She smiled as the wolf trotted up to her side. "You're always at my side whenever I go to see Snow," she stated. "Why is that?"

No, she had not expected an answer. "Last time we saw her, she said I should give you a name. I haven't thought of the perfect one yet. Unless, do you already have one?" she said, gazing down at the wolf.

"Ruby?"

Suddenly, the forest disappeared. The hallway came back into focus and Emma was now standing over Ruby, who quickly sat up straight. "Sheriff Swan, I'm sorry I fell asleep-"

"No, it's alright," Emma said. "If anything, I should be apologizing. I spent a bit more time than I should have out. What are you doing here? Did something else come up missing?"

Ruby shook her head. "No, nothing," she answered honestly. "I just.. that woman-"

"Lucy."

"Lucy," Ruby repeated, eyebrows raised. Huh, she had a name. "She said something last night. I just need to clear some things up."

Emma frowned. "Ruby, did she threaten you in any way? You or Granny?" she asked.

"No," Ruby quickly responded, pulling herself to her feet. "Not at all. Can I just talk to her alone for a second?"

Before giving her an answer, Emma stared at the younger woman, trying to figure out what she was hiding. She was not lying, however. She and Granny had not been threatened. They were not in any sort of danger. "I have to warn you," Emma began, stepping over to the door to unlock. "She's not much of a talker," she pointed out. After pushing open the door, Emma stood off to the side to allow Ruby to enter before she followed her in.

The sound of the door opening caused the woman laying on the bed in the cell to spring up. She probably wanted to brace herself in case Regina had come back for a second round. Emma could not blame her. Upon realizing that was not the case, the woman called Lucy relaxed a bit. She placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side when she saw Ruby.

"You have a visitor," Emma said needlessly, lingering at the door as Ruby made her way closer to the bars. "Ruby, make it quick."

"Sure thing, sheriff," Ruby answered, keeping her eyes locked with Lucy's. They had entered a stare down that neither intended of breaking. "Who are you?" she demanded after hearing the door close shut, signaling that the two of them were in the office alone.

"Sheriff said to make it quick – that's not the question you want to ask," the woman retorted.

"Then what are you?"

"I think you already know."

Ruby was already growing a bit upset. "Last night you said-"

"You still got it," Lucy finished for her.

"And your eyes – eye, I mean. It changed colors," Ruby added.

"Well that's a funny thing for an eye to do, isn't it?"

"What did you mean?" Ruby asked, deciding to ignore the comment.

Lucy had to bite back a small smile. "I meant what I said," she replied.

"We've met before," Ruby concluded. "Where? In Boston?"

"Something like that."

Ruby's eyes narrowed. Needless to say, she was not receiving the most desirable answers. "They're not dreams, are they?" she then asked before she could stop herself. "The forest, the wolves – they're not dreams."

The demeanor of the young woman changed. She grew slightly more serious and even took a step closer to the metal bars that separated her from Ruby. "Then what do you think they are?" she asked in return, watching Ruby carefully.

It took her a moment to compose herself and another to gain the strength to murmur 'memories.' As soon as the word parted from her lips, Ruby felt ridiculous. The very idea of the dreams being memories was insane. It was not at all possible. She was just shaken up by the events from last night. "N-Not from here," she added.

"From where?"

"I don't know," Ruby admitted. "But you're in them. I don't know how, but I know you are, aren't you?"

"…Yes."

Ruby had braced herself for another wise crack answer so hearing one so straight forward caught her off guard. Her mouth hung open for a second as she failed to come up with anything tangiable to say, so the other woman decided to speak instead. "It can't hurt you, Red," Lucy reassured.

"What did you call me?"

"The dreams, they're vivid. They feel real and they're terrifying, but they can't hurt you," Lucy repeated. "You defeat that beast – you do."

She could not help but stare at the woman. She had expected to get an answer, but nothing like this. With her mind bustling with even more questions, Ruby took a step back. Eyes casted to the ground, she made her way to the door without another word. She exited the office where she met Emma standing in the hallway. The look she was giving asked if she was alright. Ruby forced a wide, bright smile.

"Thank you, Sheriff."

To be continued…