Carter sat next to Allison on the plane, and he refused to let go of her hand for the best part of the three and a half hours. He knew they wouldn't be able to sleep together for a while, and he'd miss her warmth under the covers next to him.

When they arrived, they had to catch a bus from the airport to Storybrooke. Carter chatted with Allison and Henry for most of the ride.

They got off the bus when it arrived at Storybrooke. According to the small map they'd been supplied with by the DOD, Granny's was only a few blocks from where they'd been dropped off by the impatient bus driver, so they walked.

Soon they arrived at a cute little bed and breakfast run by a sweet, elderly woman. She kindly showed them to their rooms, then told them that if they needed anything, they could just ask.

Carter, Zane, Henry, and Fargo got settled in their room while the women did the same. In the room, there were two of the biggest beds Carter had ever seen. They paired up, two people to a bed, and although Zane complained a bit about sleeping next to Fargo, none of them seemed to really mind it because they were close friends.

Things went pretty much the same in the other room. Allison and Grace shared a bed, and Holly and Jo took the other.

Once unpacked, they all felt more relaxed. Allison sat down on one of the beds and sighed.

"Is anyone else exhausted?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Yep," replied Jo, sitting down next to her.

"How are you tired?" asked Holly. "It's only two o'clock."

"It's been a hectic morning," Jo protested.

"It wasn't that bad," said Holly. "You could have rested on the plane."

"I did," replied Allison. "But I...er...didn't get much sleep last night."

"Me either," said Jo.

Grace had to turn away so they wouldn't see her holding back a laugh. "And I suppose that means Carter and Zane are both tired, too, then?"

Both Allison and Jo blushed, then they all burst into a fit of laughter.

Gradually, they eased into conversation, topics ranging from work to gorgeous men on TV shows. Eventually, they began to talk about what was going on here in Storybrooke.

"It doesn't even look like there are any traces of the gas left," said Jo.

"They could be invisible to the naked eye," said Grace.

"True," replied Allison, "But I don't even know where to start investigating this. Are we just trying to find out where it came from?"

"Yep," Grace replied. "But how will we do that without even knowing what it was?"

"The video from the satellite showed it originating in the woods. We'll have to search there," replied Holly.

Allison sighed. "You know, I like hiking in the woods a lot better when I'm not working at the same time."

They decided to grab a late lunch, so they knocked on Carter, Henry, Zane, and Fargo's room to ask if they wanted to come. They agreed, and went down to Granny's restaurant, surprised to find that quite a few people had come in the time they'd been in their rooms.

They sat down at a big table and ordered their meals from a kind young woman with long dark brown hair and pretty eyes.

From her position at the end of the table, Allison could faintly hear other people's conversations.

Curious, she listened in. The woman who had taken their order was talking to Granny in hushed tones. Allison could only barely make out what they were saying.

"-what they're doing here. Who are they?"

"There's word going around that the DOD sent them to investigate the magic that Rumpelstiltskin set loose from the abandoned well."

"No, but, who are they...like in..."

"Oh. That I'm not sure about. They could be anyone in the other world...or they could possibly not even exist there at all."

"They seem nice enough. If we told them the truth, do you think they could help get Snow and Emma back?"

"First of all, they wouldn't believe us if we told them that we were all storybook characters, and second...these people know nothing about magic. They wouldn't be able to find Snow and Emma or bring them back."

Allison was confused. So people had gone missing? And what was that about magic and storybook characters? She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even hear Carter talking to her.

"Allison? What are you looking at?" Jack asked, peering over his shoulder to see where she was looking.

"Oh...nothing. Sorry, what were you saying?"

They talked for about half an hour, then decided to venture into the forest to search for the purple gas and wherever it had originated.