Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or Criminal Minds.

Author's Note: After so long, this story is updated again! Weee. To the previous readers of this story who continue to follow, thanks for hanging in there. Special mention to lazybum89, OnceUponaChloe, IcyLou, Miss Argent, MoonshineBella-Cissy, cmjeiddemily, The Alien of Pluto, Yin7, Crimson Angel Winges, Author's Restraint, OTHGGPLL24, smilingliketheresnothingwrong, Marie Payne, redangel2463, Jenna Malfoy 20, writergirl99. Helena Light, Girly00Writer, Dragon Writer 2416 for keeping this on favorites, for following, or for posting a review. It means so much to me. Thank you. (Hope to update sooner :))

Ella King walked around the block where the sheriff's office was on. She needed to get away for awhile. What she thought to be an ordinary trip to Maine turned out to be a dreadful one. Considering that she was on her most bizarre case yet, that was saying something. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine seeing him in a town like this—a town that seemed absent in the whole map of the continental US. If it was New York, LA, or even Chicago, she would not have been surprised at all. Graham Hunt was built for the city.

She was lost in so many thoughts of that encounter when Dr. Firuz came trotting down the steps of the station. He almost did not notice but her fidgeting was hard to miss.

"Hey, you okay?" Firuz stopped to ask.

"Just fine," Ella said-trying hard to be nonchalant.

"You sure? I thought I sensed some tension between you and that sheriff. The guy one?" The ME's agenda seemed to be forgotten for the moment.

Ella eyed him with a look of defeat. "You're pretty perceptive, doc."

Firuz made a hmf sound that was his version of a snort. It meant to say that she should know better. "So, who is this guy?" For a moment, he sounded like an older brother asking about a prospective boyfriend.

Ella sighed. "He's a guy from my past. Nothing really serious, I guess. Just a previous romance." She tried again to be nonchalant. This time, however, she faltered.

Firuz eyed her inquisitively but knew he heard enough of what she wanted to offer. Not long after, he nodded and prepared to leave. "If you'll be alright, I should go then."

"You headed to the hospital morgue?"

"Yeah. My real action's there." He chuckled at his own remark.

It was Ella's turn to snort. "Good luck, then."

"Thanks." He made a salute and turned for the hospital. "See you around."

"Yeah," Ella muttered to herself. She dreaded the time she would have at this small town.

Ella was on her way back to the station when most of the BAU and Sheriff Swan were heading out.

"Ella," Hotch regarded her. "We're on our way to do our initial interviews and we may have some forensic evidence when we get back. Better to stay with Garcia until you can examine the evidence."

"Sure, I'll be here." She nodded to everyone and they went out the door. Emma, however, lingered a bit.

"Sheriff," she smiled and regarded her curiously.

"Ms. King-"

"Ella, please."

"Ella," Emma said and smiled back. "I hope everything's fine with our department. And with that I mean me and Graham." Emma looked apologetic. "I don't mean to pry-but I just hope he won't be a problem for you for the course of the investigation."

"Oh," Ella let out a nervous laugh. "You don't have to worry about that. I'll be fine," she assured the sheriff. "There won't be a problem."

"Thanks," Emma sighed, relieved. "Please tell me if you need anything."

"I will," she assured.

Emma headed for the door.

It was decided that JJ and Morgan would be the ones to interview the townsfolk at Granny's. Hotch figured that he and Rossi's presence may only intimidate the residents; hence, they opted to scan the crime scenes instead. Emma was tasked at interviewing their most important witness yet. Since Henry was just a kid, they decided that her mom should be the one to ask him for the photos.

When JJ and Morgan arrived, Granny's seemed to be the most ideal place for them to corner the townsfolk. The place was packed; almost every booth was occupied. However, what they anticipated also happened. Their entrance seem to cast an air of tension in the place. Happy conversations appeared to falter. It would not require a detective to tell that topics changed into talk about the murders.

Granny was not fazed. She cleared a spot near the counter for them and asked Ruby to take their orders. She introduced herself. "Hi! I'm Ruby. What will you two be having today?" She smiled genuinely at them, glancing a little longer at Morgan's direction. Morgan smiled his wide I'm-ready-to-flirt-with-you smile. JJ cleared her throat.

"We're not actually here to order anything," JJ prompted. "We're from the BAU. I'm agent Jennifer Jareau and this is SSA Derek Morgan. As you may know, we're here about the recent murders. We were hoping to ask around a bit about the town."

Ruby nodded. "Feds, huh. Never had one of you here before. I mean, ever. This town may have its crazies, but not murder-level crazy." So open, JJ thought. She liked her already.

"Crazies? What and who exactly are the crazies around here?" Morgan asked.

"Man, there are a lot. Even me," she glanced at Granny who was at the other edge of the counter. She did not seem to hear.

"You? What makes you say that?" JJ inquired.

Ruby just shrugged but then looked serious. "I have this condition where I wander late at night. You can call it sleepwalking, but I'm totally awake! At least according to Granny. It's just that, I don't remember anything at all. This happens every full moon, mind you. And only during those times." Morgan and JJ just looked at her, not knowing what to say.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Ruby smirked. "It's not like I killed those girls. Granny locks me up when my "condition" happens." She made two quotation marks in the air.

The agents looked at each other then composed themselves. "Well, that's really our initial problem for this case. We know little about this town and the people in it." JJ explained.

Ruby nodded again. "Yeah, it feels like we are in this little bubble detached from the outside world. Most, if not all, of us here never even went out of the town borders."

"That's why we were hoping for a local perspective that could help us gain some knowledge of Storybrooke," Morgan added.

"Ask away," Ruby permitted.

"Do you recall of any unusual incidents around town this past few weeks? Particularly around the time before the festival and the succeeding ones?" JJ.

Ruby considered this. "This one's really not that crazy but there was this time-maybe days before the festival-when some guys got in a fight near the town's square. I mean guy fights may not be rare for you but it is pretty unusual here."

"Who were involved in this fight?"

"There's this guy, Will Scarlet. He's a known troublemaker, and oftentimes accused of being a thief-which can't be proven at all. He got into a fight with Hook but they settled it. We didn't even know about what caused it." Ruby shrugged.

"Hook?" Morgan's brow creased.

"What, you know him?" Ruby looked at him, genuinely shocked.

"No. Just a weird name or alias," Morgan said.

"Yeah. It's because his other hand is now a hook after it got cut off," Ruby said.

"What?" JJ exclaimed. "You mean like Captain Hook?"

"So you know him? He is called Captain Hook because he owns the most exquisite boat in the docks around here."

"Captain Hook is from a famous story called Peter Pan. You know that right?" Morgan explained.

"Yeah. But growing up in this town, you'd be surprised the way many people seem to resemble those characters from the stories. I mean, isn't it the same for you in the big city" She asked both of them.

"Not as creepy similar as Hook, I'm sure." Morgan.

"So, it's really a major coincidence, isn't it?" Ruby looked weirded out.

"Yeah," JJ agreed. She gathered her thoughts before coming up with another question.

"Any other weird incidents?" Morgan pried.

"There was this one time, also before the festival, when our mayor made a scene in the town hall. There was a meeting-for the festival I guess-when someone suggested about opening a contest for town visitors. You know, award the best dressed to encourage more participants and also contribute to our town's tourism," Ruby smirked. "I'm sorry, I just don't get the idea about the tourism part. I mean, in this town? Anyway, Regina just sort of went berserk. She was almost crazy about defending that no outsider should enter this town."

"Regina?" JJ inquired.

"Yeah, Regina Mills. She's our town mayor." Ruby asserted.

Morgan and JJ looked at each other. "Well, we need to return to the station. Here's our card. You can contact us here in case there's anything you can add. Feel free to call us."

"Sure." Ruby smiled at them, a little more towards Morgan.

Just right out of Granny's, JJ began to dial. "Hotch, there's been an incident with the town mayor before the festival. The one we interviewed said that she just went berserk after someone suggested of encouraging visitors to come around here. She didn't want outsiders to enter this town."

Hotch on the other line, replied, "You and Morgan head to the town office and see what you can find."

"Okay." The two agents went to find Regina.

P.S.

Hello lovelies. I know, I know. This chapter's a bit 'eh' compared to the rest. I'll improve next chapter. If you have any theories or suggestions, feel free to contact me. I am open to ideas! Love, Sue. :)