Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or Once Upon a Time.

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Chapter 9: Into Darkness

In the Enchanted Forest…

Jack, Red and Prince James sat around a small campfire. They had been riding throughout the day, and all three had needed to stop and rest.

Abruptly, Red lifted her head, looking around. Her eyes were wide and nervous.

James frowned as he noticed her expression: he reached cautiously for his sword as a precaution.

"Red?" Jack asked. "What's wrong?"

She blinked, looking over at him. "I smell something," she murmured.

Then a twang cut through the momentary silence, and a flaming arrow shot out of the woods, aimed squarely at Red's head.

"Red, look out!" James shouted.

Jack and James reacted simultaneously: a bolt of ice from Jack's staff knocked the arrow away, snuffing out the flame, as James grabbed Red and pulled her into cover.

Shouts echoed through the trees, and a group of soldiers burst into the clearing some distance away, riding towards them.

"Oh, come on!" Jack complained.

"We need to move," James snapped. "They've found us."

Jack nodded. "Right. Let's go!" He fired a quick burst of frost from his staff to put out the fire, and the three of them ran for James's horse, snatching up the supplies they'd had with them as they moved.

James scrambled onto his horse, and then extended a hand down to Red to help her up. However, she shook her head, taking a step back.

"Go," she ordered. "I'll take care of them."

"Red, I'm not leaving you," Jack said earnestly.

"Neither am I," James added.

"Find Snow," Red said with determination. "That's all that matters. Find her!"

After a long moment, James nodded reluctantly. "What are you going to do?" he asked.

Red looked up at the sky: the two men followed her gaze and saw a full moon hanging overhead.

Red grinned. "I'm giving you a head start." She turned to face the oncoming soldiers and leaned forward slightly, before throwing off her red cloak.

As they watched, she smiled, her eyes flashing bright yellow, and then sprang into motion, running towards the soldiers. In midstride, her form blurred, her body dropping forwards and expanding, as she transformed into a massive, dark brown wolf. Letting out a snarl, she leaped upwards, slamming into one of the soldiers and knocking him backwards off of his horse.

"Jack, let's go!" James called.

Jack shook his head, glancing back over his shoulder towards the fight. "No. You need to go, but I can't leave Red. So get moving. We'll buy you as much time as we can, and meet up with you later."

Apparently realizing that there would be no point in arguing, James nodded reluctantly. "Very well. Good luck to you."

"And to you," Jack returned. He raised his staff, which began to glow faintly with blue light. "Now go! Your true love is waiting for you."

James smiled faintly, and then turned his horse, spurring it on. The horse raced off towards the forest, as Jack took off at a run, sprinting back towards the soldiers.

Looking over his shoulder, James watched in astonishment as Jack leaped impossibly high into the air, as if the air had simply grasped him and flung him aloft. In midair, he fired half a dozen bolts of blue light from his staff, striking down several soldiers.

Landing beside the wolf, Jack grinned fearlessly, firing three more energy bolts into the air. This time, however, they curved back down to strike the ground around the group of soldiers.

Just as they had earlier that day, three mounds of ice and snow rose up, morphing into a trio of massive, golem-like creatures. The monsters roared, the sound deafening.

"To me!" Jack ordered with a sweep of his arm. The golems roared again, and charged into battle.

Turning his back on the mayhem, James rode onwards, vanishing into the forest and leaving the raging battle behind him.

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Storybrooke…

Jackson sat in a chair, watching as Emma took Mary Margaret's mugshot pictures.

"Please turn to the right," Emma instructed.

"Emma, this is a mistake," Mary Margaret insisted. "I didn't kill Kathryn."

"Of course you didn't," Emma agreed. "But, while I am your friend, I'm also the sheriff. And I have to go where the evidence leads."

"Which points to me?" Mary Margaret asked in disbelief. "Emma, yesterday it was David. There's something not right here."

Emma nodded. "I know. But your fingerprints were on that box, and his are not. So now we have to deal with… this."

"Evidence that says I cut out Kathryn's heart," Mary Margaret murmured, "and buried it in the woods." She shivered. "This is insane."

After a few seconds, Emma sighed. "If I don't book you, with all this evidence, it's going to look like favoritism. And then Regina will have cause, and she'll fire me. And then you know what she'll do? She'll bring in someone who will railroad you. So, please, just try to be patient, and trust me. We can't even move forward until we verify that the heart belonged to Kathryn, and I'm still waiting for the DNA test results. But, in the meantime, you need to bear with me. I have to ask you a few questions."

Nodding slowly, Mary Margaret frowned. "This is crazy," she insisted. "I would never hurt anyone."

Jackson's eyes narrowed. He had spent the duration of that conversation focusing on Mary Margaret's heartbeat, listening for any signs that she might be lying; he had become very good at that after Derek had taught him how to do it. As he'd expected, her heart was steady. She was afraid, yes, but she was telling the truth. Plus, he was already convinced that she didn't have a mean bone in her body.

Well, there's the easy part done, he thought to himself. Now we just have to figure out who actually did it. And prove that it wasn't her.

He sighed. I have a feeling I'm going to regret getting involved here.

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In the Enchanted Forest…

Jack Frost raced nimbly through the forest, moving at a speed that would have seemed impossible to a normal human. He was a blur, constantly in motion, rushing through the trees with astonishing grace and agility. It was as if he were dancing rather than running: not a single fallen tree branch impeded his progress. Red's hood and cloak were tucked over one arm.

Sensing that he was close, Jack leaped impossibly high into the air, backflipping in midair, and landed lightly on the limb of a massive tree. Glancing around, he soon caught sight of his quarry in the growing light of dawn: the familiar shape of the massive brown wolf, loping through the trees some distance away.

Jack grinned, his blue eyes sparkling with enthusiasm, and jumped off the branch, exploding into motion the instant his feet touched the ground. Within minutes, he had caught up to the wolf, just as it entered a clearing among the trees. He landed beside a tree at the edge of the clearing and watched as the wolf paced into the middle of the clearing and howled at the brightening sky.

That was his cue: he darted forward, pulling the hood and cape off of his arm and holding it up. Just as the wolf turned to face him, he swept the cloak over her with a swift, practiced motion.

There was a flash of red light, and it was done: the wolf's massive body shrank, diminishing in size and mass, and reverted to a human figure. A moment later, Red's head emerged from under the hood, blinking as the yellow glow in her eyes faded back to their usual blue. She looked up at him, confused, and then smiled.

"Welcome back," Jack said with a grin. He extended a hand and took hers, lifting her to her feet as she fastened the cloak around her. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," she murmured, wincing as she extended one arm. "I must have caught a few nicks, that's all." She pushed back the cloak, revealing a cut on one of her forearms, and another on her lower leg. There was also a spot on her left side where her clothes were torn over a large cut, indicating the place where a sword had caught her left flank as the wolf. Her accelerated healing ability was already going to work, however, quickly repairing the wounds.

"Are you all right?" Jack asked anxiously.

Red smiled. "I'll be fine. Right now, though, we need to find the prince."

Jack nodded. "Agreed." He offered her his hand. "Shall we? We'll find him faster my way."

She nodded, taking his hand. He glanced around cautiously, and then slammed his staff down on the forest floor. Blue smoke enveloped them, and they were gone.

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Storybrooke…

Jackson leaned against the wall, trying to contain his growing irritation as he listened to Mary Margaret's ongoing interrogation. He had managed to avoid seeing Regina so far, as he had no desire to lay eyes on her unless it was absolutely necessary.

Right now, as a matter of fact, she was doing her best to manipulate Mary Margaret into seeming as guilty as possible.

"Miss Blanchard," she was saying, "it's okay. I know what you're going through. I know what it's like to lose someone you love: to be publicly humiliated. It put me in a very dark place. Changed me." She paused, just long enough to make the implication. "I can only imagine what losing David Nolan did to you."

"But I haven't changed," Mary Margaret protested. "I'm still the same person I've always been – a good person. I did not do this."

"Can I speak to you in the hallway, please?" Emma asked flatly. Her tone of voice confirmed what Jackson had already suspected: she was pissed off.

Moments later, the door opened, and Emma and Regina exited the office. As soon as the door closed behind them, Emma turned on Regina. "I told you to leave the questioning to me," she snapped.

Regina, unperturbed, raised an eyebrow. "How do you know she didn't do it? If that box was stolen from her as she claims, don't you think there'd be signs of a break-in?" She didn't wait for Emma to reply. "Well, you're her roommate: tell me. Has there been a break-in?" She sighed. "She is a woman who's had her heart broken, and that… that can make you do unspeakable things."

As she finished speaking, she turned to glance down the hallway, and her gaze fell on Jackson. Her eyes widened. "What the hell is he doing here?" she demanded coldly.

"I work here," Jackson replied, smiling. He stood up straight and walked down the hallway to meet her. "Good to see you again, Regina."

She wasn't amused. "What do you mean, you work here?"

"I hired him," Emma replied. "I needed some help around here, and Jackson has experience in law enforcement, so he seemed like a good choice."

Regina glared at Jackson, who shrugged. "I needed something to do: this town is way too boring for my tastes."

"Well, I can't say I approve of this," Regina said coolly, fixing Jackson with a withering glare. "You should know, Miss Swan, that this man has been spending altogether too much time around my son."

Emma frowned, glancing over at Jackson with a puzzled expression on her face. "What's she talking about?"

Jackson grinned. "Oh, Henry? He came up to me once a couple of days ago, while I was having breakfast at Granny's: he wanted to know why I was in Storybrooke. Told me a bunch of stuff about fairy tales and things like that. He's a very imaginative kid."

"Yes, he certainly is," Regina shot back. Her eyes narrowed. "Well, I suppose we should continue. Good day, Mr. Whittemore." Turning, she ducked back into the interview room.

Jackson raised an eyebrow. "Yikes," he muttered. "That lady needs some serious anger management help. I've got no idea why she hates me so much, but I'm willing to bet it's not just because her kid decided to ask me some questions about fairy tales."

"Yeah, no kidding," Emma replied. "I'd better get back in there." She sighed, and walked back into the room to continue the interview with Mary Margaret.

Left alone, Jackson shrugged, turned away and strolled off down the hall, whistling idly to himself.

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In the Enchanted Forest…

With a burst of blue smoke, Jack and Red materialized outside a small cottage by the edge of a forest clearing.

"This is where she lives?" Jack inquired.

"Well, I'm not sure if she's here, but this is where some of her closest friends live," Red answered. "If anyone knows where she is, the dwarves will."

Jack nodded. "Sounds good."

The pair walked up to the door, Red leaning on Jack to ease the pain in her leg. Jack knocked on the front door, which was quickly opened to reveal Happy, one of the dwarves who had befriended Snow.

"Oh, Jack!" he exclaimed. "And Red! Good to see you!"

"You too, Happy," Jack replied with a smile, recognizing the dwarf. "Red's hurt: can you help us?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely. Come in, come in." Happy held the door open for them and closed it behind them as they walked in.

As they entered the main room and Jack lifted Red onto the table, the rest of the dwarves hurried into the room. To Jack's surprise, he could only count six of them.

"Where's Grumpy?" he asked.

There was a collective hesitation among the dwarves, before Doc stepped forward. "He went after Snow," he said quietly. "She's run off; she's planning to kill the Queen."

"She's what?" Jack and Red exclaimed simultaneously.

"She drank a potion that Rumplestiltskin gave her," Doc explained as he began examining Red's injuries. "It made her forget about her prince. After that, she… she changed. She's become cruel, mean-hearted, angry at everything around her. And now she's decided to kill Regina."

Jack took a step forward, a dangerous glint in his blue eyes. "Where did they go?" he asked in an urgent tone. "If you can tell me where they are, I can find her."

"Grumpy was going to try to convince her to go see Rumplestiltskin again," Happy informed him. "We were hoping that he might have a way to undo the potion."

Considering this, Jack nodded. "All right, then. I'll go find her. I'll start at the Dark Castle." He took Red's hand, looking into her eyes. "You'll be okay here?"

"Yeah." Red nodded, smiling. "I'll be fine. Go find Snow."

"I will." Jack kissed her softly on the lips and then stood, turning and heading for the door. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He swept out the door and was gone, vanishing in a swirl of blue smoke before he'd gone three steps.

"Hold still," Doc instructed Red as he began to clean and bandage the cut on her arm. "I'll have you fixed up in no time."

Red smiled. "Thanks." Her gaze absentmindedly strayed to the door.

"Be safe, Jack," she whispered under her breath.

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The Dark Castle…

Prince James burst through the front doors of the Dark One's castle, looking around warily. "Rumplestiltskin!" he shouted. "Show yourself!"

"Still dressing like a prince, I see," Rumplestiltskin said casually as he appeared behind James. "Even though you ran away from the life I gave you." He raised an eyebrow. "How's that for gratitude?"

"You gave me a prison sentence," James snapped.

"Yes, one that you've now skirted," Rumplestiltskin countered. He smirked. "Careful, dearie: King George is a vengeful man."

"I'm here about Snow," James said firmly. "Rumor has it, she's after the Queen and she came to you for help."

"Yes, indeed," the dark wizard replied, chuckling.

James's eyes narrowed, flashing with anger. "What did you do to her?" he demanded, drawing his sword.

Before Rumplestiltskin had a chance to say anything, there was a burst of blue smoke in the open doorway. A human figure strode out of the smoke – Jack Frost, his staff glowing, a furious expression on his face.

"Well, hello there, Frost," Rumplestiltskin replied, actually appearing surprised for a moment. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm in no mood for your games," Jack snapped, his eyes flashing with anger as his gaze locked on the evil wizard. "What the hell have you done to Snow White, Rumple?"

"What did I do to her?" Rumplestiltskin protested. He pointed one claw-like fingernail at James. "You mean, what did he do to her." He smirked, shifting his attention to James as he paced around the wooden table in the center of the entrance hall. "You caused her pain. Without that pain, she would never have drank my potion to forget about you. That's what changed her."

"Undo the potion," James ordered. "All magic can be broken."

"Oh, yes," Rumplestiltskin replied with a laugh. "With twoo wuv."

"True love's kiss," Jack murmured in realization.

"So that's it, then?" James asked, hope in his eyes. "True love's kiss will awaken her?"

Rumplestiltskin nodded. "Most certainly. But it's going to be hard to kiss her when you don't know where she is."

Jack sighed. "What do you want?"

"From you, nothing." Rumplestiltskin turned to James. "From you…" He considered. "How about… your cloak?"

James frowned. "My cloak? Why would you want my cloak?"

The wizard shrugged. "It's drafty in here."

Without hesitation, James removed his cloak and placed it down on the table.

"Where is she?" he asked again.

"On her way to the Queen's Highway," Rumplestiltskin replied casually, removing a rolled-up map from his sleeve and unfolding it with a single flick. "This is the route she's taking. But you'd better be quick: because, if she kills the Queen, she becomes as evil as the woman whose life she takes."

Jack felt a chill run up his spine.

"She could never become that evil," James insisted, shaking his head. He started towards the door, and Jack followed close behind.

"Evil isn't born, dearie," Rumplestiltskin called after them. "It's made. If Snow starts down that road, you'll never get her back."

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As Jack and James hurried through the woods, Jack turned to him. "All right, we should probably split up: we'll cover more ground that way. We'll meet up at the spot Rumple specified on the map in a few hours: if we haven't found her by then, we have a problem."

"Right," James agreed. "Let's get moving." He hurried off in the direction they'd been going, while Jack cut off at a tangent, disappearing into the woods like a ghost.

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Several hours later…

Jack ran through the dark forest, his senses on full alert as he scanned his surroundings for any sign of Snow. So far, he hadn't seen anything: he'd made a loop through the woods on the east side of the trail, while James had done the same on the west side. He'd returned to the spot where they were supposed to meet, but had found that James hadn't returned, so he'd promptly gone after him.

Rounding a large tree at full speed, he nearly slammed head-on into James, who had been running in the other direction. They both crashed to the ground.

"Watch where you're going!" Jack groaned, rubbing his head as they clambered to their feet.

"You can yell at me later; right now, we have to go!" James snapped, turning and dashing off into the woods. Jack followed close behind.

"What happened?" he called.

"I found Snow," the prince answered, not breaking stride as Jack caught up with him. "I kissed her, but it didn't work. Since she doesn't remember me, she doesn't love me, and true love's kiss doesn't work on her." He grimaced. "She knocked me out, tied me to a tree, and then left to kill the Queen. I tried to persuade her to stop, but…" He shook his head as best he could while running. "She wouldn't listen to me. I've never seen her like this."

"Well, if true love's kiss won't work, then what do we do?" Jack panted as they ran.

"Actually, I think it still might, if I can go about it the right way," James replied. "She doesn't remember who I am, but I might be able to make her remember who she is."

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Granny's Diner, Storybrooke

Jackson sat alone at a corner table, glancing around the room as he sipped from a mug of hot chocolate. The day's events had been very interesting, to say the least, and he had no idea what to do about the situation. Regina's attitude was continuing to piss him off, and the difficulty that he and Emma were having with the Kathryn Nolan case hadn't been helping matters. In addition, Mary Margaret had decided to take on that Mr. Gold guy as her defense lawyer, which had resulted in Jackson's trying to avoid Gold as much as possible. Frankly, the guy gave him the creeps.

Finally, worst of all, the results from the lab tests on the heart had finally come in, confirming that the heart had belonged to Kathryn.

"You feeling all right?" Ruby inquired as she walked over to him, bending down under the pretenses of cleaning his table so she could talk to him without Granny getting irritated.

Smiling faintly, Jackson looked up at her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just got a lot of things on my mind, I guess."

She nodded sympathetically. "How's the police work going?"

"Not well." He sighed, lowering his gaze to the mug in his hands. "I'm pretty much convinced that Mary Margaret is innocent of whatever happened to Kathryn, but I've got no idea how to find enough proof to clear her name, and Regina's doing everything she can to ruin her case." Glancing up at her again, he raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't happen to have any ideas, would you?"

Ruby considered. "Not at the moment, but…" She smirked. "I'll see if I can come up with something. Mary Margaret's my friend, and I'll gladly help prove her innocent, especially if it means we get to screw over Regina in the process."

Jackson chuckled. "Smart, sexy, and devious?" His lips curved in a smirk. "How lucky can I get?"

Ruby's cheeks flushed scarlet, and she grinned flirtatiously back at him. "We'll have to see about that," she replied, winking. She bent down, kissing him softly on the lips, before turning and sauntering back to the kitchen.

As Jackson leaned back against the seat of his booth, he smiled to himself. I'm really starting to like this town, he thought.

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Outside the diner, at the edge of the nearby forest, a pair of cold blue eyes gazed intently at the young man visible in the window of the diner.

The eyes narrowed, flashing bright red, and then moved away, vanishing into the darkness.

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In the Enchanted Forest…

Snow White crouched on the top of a hill, concealed among several bushes as she gazed intently down at the road running through the forest below. A group of black-armored knights were approaching on horseback from the north. It was easy to recognize the black-clad woman in the front of the group: Regina, the Evil Queen.

"Clear the road!" one of the knights shouted. "Bow your heads before the queen!"

Snow's eyes narrowed as she notched an arrow to her bowstring, drawing it back and taking careful aim at Regina. Three… two… one… now!

She released the arrow, which flew straight and true, aimed directly at Regina – until a dark figure leaped out from behind a tree about halfway down the hill, taking the arrow in his shoulder and falling to the ground with a cry of pain.

Snow gazed in shock at what had just happened, her eyes wide, before she hurried down the hill to the place where the man's body had fallen. She reached him just in time to see the man – Prince James – sitting up weakly, one hand pressed against his left shoulder, where the arrow was embedded in his flesh. "What do you think you're doing?!" Snow hissed, pulling him behind a tree to conceal them. "Why would you do this?"

James clenched his hands tightly into fists, gritting his teeth to prevent himself from yelling in pain and giving away their position. "Well," he gasped, "because… you said you appreciate… action more than words. So, now… you're going to get both." He gazed at her with nothing but honesty and love in his eyes. "I love you, Snow."

She blinked. "But… I don't love you. I don't even remember you."

"Well, I don't care," James said decisively, wincing in pain. "The only thing I care about is that you don't forget who you really are. I would rather die… than let you fill your heart with darkness."

Snow's eyes widened, and her expression softened. "You… you would really die for me?"

James motioned to the arrow sticking out of his shoulder. "Does it look like I'm making this up?"

"No one's ever done anything like this for me before," Snow murmured. "No one's ever been willing to die for me."

The prince's eyes were clear. "No one you can remember," he replied simply.

They gazed into each other's eyes for a long moment, and then slowly, hesitantly, leaned in, their lips meeting in a soft kiss.

Although neither of them could see him at the moment, Jack Frost, who was watching them from a few yards away, was grinning from ear to ear.

After a few seconds, they pulled away. When Snow's eyes opened again, something in them had changed: softened, almost.

"Charming?" she whispered.

James smiled. "Yes. It's me."

Snow laughed in delight, and kissed him again.

"Um, sorry to interrupt," Jack commented, leaning against a nearby tree with his staff in hand, "but we should really be going."

Snow beamed as she turned to face him. "Jack!"

"Hey there, Snow," Jack replied with a grin, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her into the air in a tight hug. "Good to have you back."

"It's good to see you too." Snow turned anxiously to James. "Can you help him?"

"Of course." Jack leaned down next to James, taking a gentle grip on the arrow. "Now, this won't hurt a bit." He promptly yanked the arrow out, drawing a cry of pain from the prince.

"Ow!" James exclaimed, looking up at him in surprise and pain.

Jack shrugged. "I lied." Placing his hand against James's shoulder, he channeled a flow of ice, forming a coating of frost to clean out and numb the injury. "Don't worry, you'll be just fine. Now, I suggest we get out of here before–"

"Hey!" a voice yelled.

"Oh, no," Snow gasped.

"King George's army," James muttered. With no time to waste, he immediately pulled the hood of Snow's cloak down over her face, concealing her identity. Jack tossed his staff behind a tree to hide it and lifted his own hood over his head, covering his face and hiding his distinctive hair. Since James couldn't do the same, however, he was immediately recognized.

Several knights descended on the trio, grabbing James and hauling him to his feet. Jack and Snow were also seized by groups of armed knights, holding them forcibly in place.

"No!" Snow cried.

Jack's mind was racing, trying to come up with a plan. Even with his powers, there was no way he could take on this many knights at once, while also trying to protect Snow and James.

"Prince James," one of the knights growled, tugging James towards a nearby carriage that had been converted into a jail cell: basically a large cage, mounted on a cart.

"Leave the others," the lead knight ordered. "We have who we came for."

The knights released Snow and Jack, shoving them away contemptuously, and hauled James into the cell.

"No!" James roared, struggling against his guards as they slammed the cell door closed behind him.

"James!" Snow cried, horrified, as the carriage began moving away from them.

"Snow!" they heard James shout. "Snow!"

"I will find you!" Snow yelled after him as he vanished from sight, the knights surrounding the carriage to deter pursuit.

She smiled faintly. "I will always find you," she said quietly, echoing James's constant refrain.

Jack retrieved his staff from where he'd dropped it, holding it up in one hand as he walked back over to her. "Snow, we need to get out of here," he said urgently, taking her hand and pulling her away. "We'll help him as soon as we can, but right now we need to go."

Reluctantly, she nodded, letting him lead her away. Once they were out of the soldiers' line of sight, Jack slammed down his staff on the forest floor, and they vanished in a swirl of blue smoke.

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Storybrooke…

Jackson walked out of the diner into the cold night air. He shivered, zipping up his jacket, and started across the parking lot towards the entrance to the motel. Halfway across, however, he stopped, glancing around. He felt a chill that had nothing to do with the weather.

A strange sensation ran down the back of his neck. It was like an electric charge, as if his hair was standing on end.

Jackson's eyes flickered blue as he glanced around the parking lot, towards the dark treeline beyond the motel.

And then he froze in place, his eyes widening in astonishment.

Visible among the trees, hanging in the darkness, was a pair of glowing red eyes.

Staring directly at him.

Jackson stared at the glowing eyes, rooted to the spot in shock. Is that… a werewolf?!

Suddenly, the eyes disappeared, vanishing into the darkness. Jackson's keen ears picked up the sound of rapid footsteps, moving away into the woods.

Oh, no, you don't! He growled, his fingernails extending into claws as he shrugged off his jacket and tossed it aside, bursting into motion in the next instant. His eyes lit up, glowing blue, and his canines elongated into fangs as he barreled across the parking lot, racing into the trees and dropping to all fours as he completed the shift.

There it was: the scent trail, like a magnet to his senses. The instantly recognizable scent of another werewolf.

Jackson snarled, letting his own inner wolf guide him, as he raced through the woods in pursuit. You're not getting away from me!

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The Seven Dwarves' cottage, in the Enchanted Forest…

Red and the dwarves were seated around the table, eating dinner, when a knock sounded at the door. It opened a moment later, admitting the familiar figures of Snow White and Jack Frost. Snow was carrying a mug in one hand, and set it down on the table.

Grumpy blinked, looking at the mug and then up at her. "What's this?" he asked.

She shrugged. "An apology."

"We don't care about mugs."

Snow sighed. "It's the only thing I broke that I could replace." She looked slowly around, her eyes finding each of the dwarves in turn. "I'm sorry," she added softly. "All I can say is… I'm sorry."

Slowly, Grumpy stood up, looking at her with a different expression on his face. "It's you," he whispered.

Nodding, Snow smiled tearfully. "It's me."

The dwarves simultaneously leaped to their feet, laughing jubilantly, and group-hugged Snow. Jack and Red also embraced, sharing a kiss.

"You can have your old room back," Happy told Snow, grinning.

Snow smiled. "Thank you." Her expression grew more serious. "But I can't stay."

"Where are you going?" Grumpy asked in confusion.

"King George's men took Prince James," Jack informed the group. "We tried to help, but there were too many of them; there was nothing we could do."

"So we have to get him back," Snow finished.

Grumpy's reaction was immediate: he shook his head. "No, Snow, you can't do it."

"I can't let the king just kill him!" she protested. "He came back for me. It doesn't matter what happens to me now; I have to try."

He smiled faintly. "That's not what I meant." With a wave of his hand, he indicated the other dwarves, who immediately made their way over to their designated wall niches and began picking up their pickaxes and supplies.

"What I meant," Grumpy added, "was, you can't do it alone." He grinned. "But, luckily, you won't have to. Let's show that king what Snow White, Jack Frost, Red Riding Hood and seven dwarves can really do!"

Red smiled, leaning against Jack as he draped an arm protectively around her shoulders.

Snow exchanged a glance with Jack, smiling as she saw the triumphant grin on his face. "Then let's get to work," she said.

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The woods outside Storybrooke…

Jackson slowed down, coming to a halt at the crest of a ridge. His head turned, scanning the trees in every direction, as he tried to home in on the scent. It was fainter now, but he could still sense it. And now that he was fully wolfed out and his senses had sharpened correspondingly, he could sense more scent trails all around him: they were much fainter, but definitely the same scent.

Whoever this guy is, he's been here for a while, he thought. How have I not noticed this before?

That was when he noted the total absence of any sounds. There was no birdsong, no frogs croaking, not even the sound of crickets chirping. The only sound he could hear was the distant sound of water running from the creek, which must be fairly close by.

Slowly, Jackson straightened up, letting his facial features return to normal, but keeping his claws out and ready. His eyes closed for a moment as he listened intently, seeking any sign of movement.

By the time he heard the whisper of rushing air, it was far too late to do anything about it.

The attack came from the left. His eyes snapped open and he spun to intercept, but a force like a wrecking ball slammed into him before he could react, bowling him over and sending him tumbling end-over-end down the hillside. He caught a flash of glowing red eyes, and then he hit the ground at the bottom of the steep hill with a thunderous impact.

The force of the impact knocked the wind out of him. He lay stunned on the forest floor for a moment, until the sound of footsteps reached his ears.

"So, we meet at last," a voice remarked. The voice was male, a deep, smooth baritone, with an accent that he recognized as British. "You're the Omega."

"Didn't you ever hear that it's rude to blindside people?" Jackson muttered as he picked himself up. He couldn't see much of the other man, other than that he was dressed in dark clothing; all he could see were the glowing crimson eyes, like miniature flames in the darkness.

"I've been looking for you for quite some time," the man said casually, walking slowly in a circle around Jackson. "I stumbled across this little town a few months ago, and it seemed like a charming little place to spend some time recovering. Of course, I've been living in the forest since I got here, but this town seems to frown upon visitors, so I'm fairly certain it was the right decision."

Jackson's eyes narrowed as he glared at the man, remembering what red eyes meant for a werewolf from the lessons Derek had given him. "You're an Alpha, aren't you?" he asked.

The man chuckled. "You're a perceptive one." He paused for a moment. "But, to answer your question: yes, I am an Alpha."

"And what do you want with me?" Jackson demanded, keeping his claws out, braced to fight in case things turned violent.

"What I want," the man explained, "is to help you. An Omega is a rather pitiful creature, all things considered. A lone wolf, the weakest type of werewolf. Alone, with no pack to back it up, and therefore at the mercy of stronger, more dangerous predators."

"Are you going to cut to the chase, or do you just love the sound of your own voice?" Jackson commented sardonically.

"Very well, if you insist." The man shrugged. "There's not much to it, really: you need a pack, and, as fortune would have it, so do I. I lost my former pack some time ago, and I'm looking for people who might be interested in joining me. Unfortunately, there aren't any other werewolves in this town, but then you showed up, and I saw my opportunity to begin anew."

Jackson frowned, looking more closely at the man in the shadows. "Who are you?" he inquired softly.

As if in response, the red glow in the man's eyes faded, and he walked forwards, out of the shadows and into the moonlight. He was tall, slightly taller than Jackson, and fairly muscular, with tousled brown hair, a lean, chiseled face, and bright, cold blue eyes. Oddly, he was twirling a cane between his hands. As Jackson watched, his eyes faded from bright red back to their normal blue.

The man smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Allow me to introduce myself." His eyes narrowed, flickering red again. "My name is Deucalion."

.

A/N: Yep, you heard right: Deucalion, the self-proclaimed Demon Wolf, has come to Storybrooke! Now, I'm sure you're all curious about how the hell he got there: rest assured, there will be a more detailed explanation next chapter.

Sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter finished: hopefully the chapter was good enough to make up for it. :)

Shoutouts to Tala White 14, RHatch89, Guest (1), Guest (2), Guest (3), willdawg992003, and anyabar1987 for reviewing: you guys are all awesome! :)

As always, I greatly appreciate receiving feedback from my readers, so if you have any comments or questions regarding this chapter or the story as a whole, please review! (No hate, please).

Next chapter, we find out why and how Deucalion is in Storybrooke and what he wants with Jackson, and Emma and Mary Margaret run into a madman in the woods… stay tuned!

See you all next time!

Review Q&A:

Q: Great chapter! Really wondering who the other werewolf is. Good job!

A: Well, wonder no longer!

Q: "a trick I learned from an old friend" Could it be Elsa from Frozen? Or is it Mr. Gold? Did you know Once Elsa is also capable of creating such a beast?

A: I do know that Elsa is capable of creating snow monsters in Once Upon a Time, yes.

Q: Really like this story! Can't wait for chapter 9! btw It's so COOL that Jackson has ice magic and were-wolf powers!

A: Yeah, the fact that he has magical-ish powers from both worlds will definitely be important later on.

Q: i just started reading your story and finished all your chapters you did a very good job and if i didnt know any better i would have thought you are one of the writers for once upon a time hehe anyways i cant wait for the next chapter and when they all get their memories back and magic included it will be interesting

A: Well, thanks: I'm glad you like it so far! And yes, it will get very interesting once we get to the end of the first season. :)

Q: well this has definitely been an interesting story. I can't wait to find out more about how Jack Frost got to this world.

A: Well, don't worry: we'll find out how Jackson/Jack Frost got from the Enchanted Forest to Beacon Hills eventually, definitely before we get to the end of Season 1 of OUAT.