A/N: I saw the guest comment suggesting pairing Matt with Jefferson, and I like that idea a lot... ;) But as I am very indecisive, who I pair Matt with may change depending on how the story develops, so just a warning! So... it's been a long time... I'm sorry! I was kind of lacking in motivation for this, but I'm back! Hopefully it won't be an age till the next update... This is technically part one of the chapter I was writing, but I didn't want to wait any longer! So the second part will be up soon (it's almost half done).

Thank you for the support and please favourite, follow, and review! X

Chapter Two

Matt stared at the quaint, simple town surrounding him. He wasn't entirely sure it was real - it looked like a classic small town set from a 1950's movie. A few parents ushered their young kids down the street and elderly residents hobbled about, the town clearly winding down for the day. And yet, Matt couldn't help but feel that something was... off.

He glanced back at his twin sister, and newly found nephew who stood at the side of the road, arguing by her bright yellow Beetle. Whilst Emma's instincts were usually pretty damn good, she seemed unusually oblivious; instead she was distracted by the young boy with scruffy brown hair and puppy dog eyes. The young boy who believed that fairytales were actually real, and for some bizarre reason believed that Emma and Matt were supposed to help him, in some way or another. Matt had to admit, the kid had a great imagination. He turned back to Emma and Henry's argument, observing how similar the two actually were, with their stubborn natures.

"... Ok... The 'Evil Queen' sent a bunch of fairytale characters here..." Emma trailed off unimpressed, not believing Henry for a second.

"Yeah! And now they're trapped here!"

"Frozen in time..." Emma snorted.

"And stuck in Storybrooke, Maine?"

Matt finished off Emma's train of thought as he realised they were back to arguing about the whole 'fairytale' thing.

"Is that seriously what you're going with, kid?" Emma smirked in unison with Matt.

"But- but it's true!" As Henry's face fell with a sad puppy expression, Matt felt his Uncle instincts twinge and flail. He crouched down to Henry's much smaller height.

"So... why doesn't everyone just leave then?" He asked, indulging his young nephew.

"Well, because they can't. If they try, bad things happen..." Henry trailed off in a quiet tone of voice, his hands clutching at the large fairytale book. Matt sighed wearily and straightened to his full height. He sent Emma an apologetic look, with a swift shrug of his shoulders.

"Look here, kid. Please, it's a simple question. Today has been a very long day, I'm tired, and your parents are probably worried sick. Where do you live?" Matt watched as his twin tried yet again to figure out where the boy lived.

"Not telling."

Emma let out a frustrated growl, rubbing her temples tiredly. He could see her eyes beginning to water up, whether it was out of stress, anger, or annoyance, Matt could only guess just how emotionally tolling the past few hours had been on her. He straightened out his back, rolling his stiff neck and stretching out his broad shoulders, before he moved closer to his twin. Matt wrapped a strong, protective arm around her leather clad shoulders, and stared down at his stubborn nephew.

"Henry." Matt frowned down at the petulant kid. Sure, the kid might be his nephew, and, well, a kid - but he'd be damned if he'd let anyone upset his twin.

"Uncle." He replied cockily.

Matt narrowed his eyes and folded his large, muscled arms. Henry only just seemed to realise just how big and intimidating his new Uncle really was, as his eyes widened and he swallowed nervously, his eyes flickering over Matt's strong stance, before staring down at his own clean sneakers to avoid Matt's intense look. Henry shuffled his feet awkwardly, not wanting to upset his Uncle, but not wanting to go home.

Matt watched the movement with a softening gaze and was about to speak again but was interrupted by the worried calling of Henry's name. Both Matt and Emma looked up to see a man hurry up to them, glancing worriedly at Henry. Matt scanned the man for any potential danger, but quickly dismissed him; he was a pale redhead, bespectacled, and wearing a knitted jumper vest and tweed. Matt considered complimenting the man on his brave fashion choice, but held back, due to the fact that a) he didn't know the man, and b) the man kind of made the look work. So he settled on giving an impressed nod - not that anyone was paying him any attention.

"Henry, what are you doing here? Is everything alright?" He cried out, bending down to Henry checking him over with a cautious eye. Henry confirmed to the man that he was indeed fine.

The man, who according to Henry was called Archie, eyed Matt and Emma somewhat warily.

"Who are these people, Henry?" Archie asked him, looking Emma and Matt over. As Matt was about to reply, Emma stepped in first.

"Just two people trying to give him a ride home." Matt snorted under his breath, thinking that was one of the weirder ways of explaining themselves. Luckily, or unluckily, depending on who you asked, Henry piped up to answer Archie too.

"She's my mom, Archie. And this is my Uncle!" Henry beamed up at Matt, who, unable to ignore such a smile, ruffled the boy's hair with a grin.

Matt watched as Archie's bespectacled eyes widened in surprise, his gaze flickering between the two adults.

"Do you know where he lives?" Emma asked the man hopefully. Matt started to tune out of the conversation again, vaguely noting that his nephew's adopted mother, was in fact the Mayor.

Matt turned away from the others, his gaze wandering up the road ahead of them. Out of the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw a flash of red, but when he checked again there was only a piece of newspaper blowing down the road, caught in the soft wind that whistled through the air.

"So... That's your shrink, huh?"

"I'm not crazy!"

Matt winced as he caught his twin's bemused, sharp tone of voice. Although he loved Emma, he had to admit that his sister wasn't exactly great at being tactful.

According to his young nephew, Archie was in fact 'Jiminy Cricket', and none of the supposed fairytale inhabitants of Storybrooke were able to remember who they truly were. As the mismatched trio made their way back into the yellow Beetle, and down the road towards the Mayor's house, Matt pondered on Henry's incredibly vivid story and his seemingly powerful imagination. Although his brain was 99.9% sure the kid was making it all up, just some highly detailed story, there was a small 0.1% of his heart that gave him hope, and belief. That small percent that longed for some adventure in the Swan Twin's lonely life.