With much storm and fanfare, Jafar zapped the doors of City Hall and blasted them open. They closed automatically behind him. He had arrived, and he wanted to make absolutely certain that everyone realized he knew what he was doing.

Nobody moved till the sky cleared, and then everyone went straight home. Alice and Cyrus made their way back to Granny's diner, noting the extra apartments attached to the eatery.

The staunch old woman was waiting for them when they arrived. The diner had withstood damage, but there were fallen branches all over the patio, and several chairs and the odd table had been damaged.
Granny raised an eyebrow. "Where's your friend?" she asked.

Alice and Cyrus exchanged glances. "She might have gone off looking for the Knave," Alice answered. "We sort of lost her when Jafar arrived."

"Jafar?" Granny's voice tripped over the strange name. "Is that the name of the sorcerer who caused the storm?"

Alice nodded. "He's the one who chased us out of Wonderland."

"And what's his quarrel with you?"

Alice fidgeted and glanced at Cyrus. "Well, because Jafar wants to harness the power of three genies to give him the ability to change the laws of magic," she remembered what Anastasia had said. "And Cyrus... Was a genie."

"Was?" Granny glanced at him.

"Not anymore," Alice continued quickly. "Our friend Will made the wish that freed him before we were separated."

Granny considered this for a long minute before admitting, "This is making no sense to me."

Alice nodded patiently. "Would it help if I started from the beginning?"

"I should hope so," Granny replied.

In the grand white mansion on Main Street, Regina peered out the window toward the spire of City Hall. Whoever had just invaded Storybrooke from one of the worlds beyond, they had settled in that building.
A knock sounded at the door. Regina answered it.

A dark-skinned man stood at her doorstep, with wavy shoulder-length hair, dressed in a dark suit. His left hand rested on the head of a short brass cane. He extended his right hand to her.

"Hello, madam; I was told I might find the chief magistrate at this residence; is he at home?"

Regina scowled. "That's me; I'm the mayor. My name is Regina Mills, who the hell are you?" She didn't even acknowledge his gesture. Something about this man was very off.

He dropped his hand, and confusion washed over his features. "Oh... Forgive me, Mayor Mills." The way he said it, she wondered if it was the first time he'd ever used that term. He grew less comfortable with her; perhaps he had some connection with the magic person who had just arrived. "My name is Dr. Sheffield, of the local psychiatric hospital, and I'm looking for three of my patients who have recently escaped."

Regina's mind switched to the three strangers she'd come across on the fringes of town; she doubted they were mental patients-this man obviously didn't know that the "local psychiatric hospital" was hours away in Boston-but why the cover? She decided to stall for more information. "Oh? And who might they be?"

"Two women and a man; the man is the most important one, but he has an abiding connection with one of the women. Alice is her name, and he is called Cyrus. Have you seen either of them?"

Regina pursed her lips. "I might have-can you give me a description?"

"They will be wearing strange clothes and exhibiting odd behaviors. If you do encounter them at any time, you must take care not to believe anything they say. These three labor under a shared delusion that they come from another world called Wonderland, and they're on the run from an evil sorcerer named Jafar."

"Jafar, huh?" smiled Regina. "That wouldn't happen to be your real name, would it?"

The man did his best to appear shocked. "I beg your pardon?"

Regina sneered at him, "Well, I might not have seen anything of your three psychos, but you could check with the jerk who messed up my town and set up shop in City Hall. Have you tried asking him?" A slight wince confirmed her suspicions. "Listen, Jafar, you can cut the act with me. See, the people in this town-excluding a few-all come from a world of our own, called the Enchanted Forest, which I ruled as the Evil Queen. Oh yes, I know all about Wonderland; your Queen of Hearts was my own mother. So you can have your little search, but just stop destroying my town, all right?"

Jafar fought to maintain his composure. He could feel the waves of magical energy emanating from the woman; it was a power distinct from his own, but no less potent. He gave a curt nod. "Very well; do have the courtesy to inform me if you find them?"

"I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine," Regina conceded.

"Then we have an agreement," Jafar smiled. "Good day." He turned and walked down the steps.

Regina noticed that he only carried his cane with him, he didn't lean on it. She also noticed that the top was the head of a cobra with glowing red eyes. She closed her door and sighed.

"So you're saying that your friend Will is now a genie, in the Enchanted Forest, and that Jafar still thinks Cyrus is the genie?"
"Yes," Alice sighed. She was so hungry after telling her entire lengthy story to Granny that she didn't even think twice about biting into the strange sandwich on the plate in front of her. Such flavors filled her mouth that she had never before tasted.
"Mm!" she cried. "This is so delicious! What do you call it?"
"It's a hamburger."

"So now that you've heard our story," said Cyrus, "What if yours? What kind of world is Storybrooke?"
"Storybrooke isn't a world, it's this town. The world is called Earth, and we're in the United States of America, in a state called Maine."

"What?" Alice cried, "America? But I come from Earth; I was born in England."
"So you said," Granny nodded, "but then again, they have cars there, too, and you said you'd never seen those before."
"Well, where I lived they had horse-drawn carriages, not these mechanical ones."

"You're kidding me; no one's used horse-drawn carriages since the Victorian Era," said a voice behind them.

Granny tensed at the approach of Emma Swann. "Evening, Sheriff," she said.

Emma was studying the newcomers closely, squnting her eyes and pursing her lips.

She pointed to the man. "Your name wouldn't happen to be Cyrus, would it?"
Cyrus gripped Alice's hand in alarm. "What difference would it make if it is?"

"That must mean you're Alice," Emma continued, pointing to the woman next to him. "And from the way you both were talking just now, I take it you're the Alice everyone reads about who had amazing adventures in Wonderland?"

Alice drew back in fear. "How did you-what do you mean 'reads about' my adventures? Am I some sort of character from a book?"

Emma chuckled, "Hey, relax; everyone here is the same way-from the land where we get our fairy tales from, only there, they aren't just stories, they're history and current events." In the back of her mind, Emma was thinking of how much she sounded like Henry just then. Had it really only been a year since he said the same thing about the Once Upon A Time stories, and she had just brushed him off as delusional? She sat down at the counter next to Cyrus and glanced at Granny. "Regina just called me; it seems that the latest attack was from somebody named Jafar, who came from Wonderland looking for an Alice and a Cyrus, and one other."

Alice was almost shaking. "Please," she begged, "please don't tell her about us. Oh, Cyrus! What if he goes after my father again? I don't have any more wishes to help him."

Emma watched the young woman. "Alice," she said, "if you are Alice, there's something you have to understand: this world is almost two hundred years in your future. Jafar can't use anything from your past to haunt you."

Alice stared at her. "Two hund-But that's impossible!"

Emma smiled wryly. "Story of my life; it's about as impossible as a rabbit digging a hole that opens a portal to another world."

Cyrus put his arm around Alice. "So what are you going to do with us, Sheriff?"

"Call me Emma," she said. "I don't trust Regina very much at all, so if she's trying to cooperate with Jafar, I say we keep you two safe and hidden for as long as possible."

"As far as I know, only a few people know they're here, and only half of them know their names," Granny observed. "They can stay in one of the rooms upstairs, and we can get them new clothes, maybe new hairstyles, and I doubt people would look twice."

Emma stood. "Sounds good; but just to be on the safe side, you'll want to stay in that room as much as possible."
"Thank you, Granny," said Alice, "and you too, Emma."

"We'll keep you safe for as long as we can," Emma promised.

(A telephone conversation)

"Hello?"

"Good evening, Madam Mayor."

"What do you want, Gold?"

"I hear you had a visitor today. It wouldn't be the stranger who tore of half the town with a magic storm, would it?"

"So what if it is? I've had lots of visitors over my career, and you've never once called me about any of them."

"No one else has come to Storybrooke through a portal, dearie. Now what did he want?"

"He was asking about some other people who he thinks might also be in Storybrooke."

"Two women and a man, perhaps?"

"Are you saying you know these people?"

"I might know something about them."

"Such as?"

"Where one might find them."

"I know they were talking about returning to Wonderland, so I directed them to Jefferson."

"How very resourceful. Well, I happen to know that one of the women did-but the other two are still here."

"Cyrus and Alice, the two he is looking for."

"Exactly; now, did this guest happen to mention why he wanted them?"

"Only a half-baked excuse; he kept his true reasons to himself."

"I think you and I should find out more about this person before we give him any more information."

"All right; I can at least tell you his name."

"Can you now? You know how much I can do with a person's name."

"First tell me where I can find Cyrus and Alice."

"Very well: there is a very good chance that one might find them in one of Granny's rooms, if one were searching for them."

"And no one else knows about this but us?"

"Maybe a few others; they will be amassing friends to protect them, no doubt. But yes, the circle is limited, and I think as long as we keep it between us, there will be no chance of it going further than it needs to."

"Glad to know I can count on you to keep secrets."

"Oh, you know me, Your Majesty; I only keep secrets as long as there isn't a benefit to me sharing them when I need an advantage. Now... about our deal."

"True, I'd almost forgotten. His name is Jafar."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Goodbye, Gold."