Chapter 10

It was a bright and early morning, just a half hour before school starts. Matt is settling in his new classroom. It was a partially larger classroom than he had back in New York. He had a desk at the front of the classroom, in front of the students desks and behind the white board. There was three large sized windows on the right hand side of the room, and twenty five desks listed in five rows of five. It was an airy room with brightly coloured painted walls. Matt sat in his desk getting some papers together for the students when he heard a knock at the door. Matt turned to the door and wondered who could be here now? He got up from his chair and walked over to open it. When he did, a shock came to him. It was Emma and Henry. He looked up at Emma who gave him an apologetic look. Matt sighed.

"Why hello, Henry," Matt greeted. "Emma. What are you two doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you," Henry said happily. "About the curse. You don't know much about Operation Cobra, so we thought we'd come down and catch you up."

Henry walked passed Matt who was very confused. He looked at Emma for any clarification on the situation.

"Look, just go along with this," Emma said quietly so she knew Henry wouldn't be able to hear her. "I know it's hard. Believe me, I know... Here's the thing, Henry talks about you a lot. You seem pretty important to him. So ultimately, whatever happens, just play along."

Matt sighed and knew that he couldn't deny this. So he opened the door for Emma and let her in. As he watched Henry eagerly opening his books and putting his backpack on a chair. He felt sorry for the kid. Making an assumption that Henry doesn't have any siblings and that Regina seems pretty tough, must make things difficult in his life. This obsession with fairytales and science fiction obviously is getting worse and it's quite concerning. Will Henry ever finally see that this magical world is just made up? Matt knew that he isn't a parental figure or Henry's Dad. So, he couldn't exactly do too much about this, except be supportive.

"What is this relationship between him and Regina?" Matt asked glancing at Henry. Emma crossed her arms over her chest and sighed.

"I'm not quite sure, I've only been in this town for a couple weeks," Emma responded. "It's complicated."

"Yeah, I figured that out," Matt said. "I ran into her yesterday."

"Judging from your expression, I'm guessing she was a bit of a hard ass," Emma said studying Matt's face as he shrugged.

"Oh yeah," Matt replied as Emma smiled slightly and nodded. Henry turned around and walked over to them. Henry's holding his books in his hands.

"We have to break the curse, luckily I have a plan," Henry said happily to Matt. "Step one, Identification. I called it Operation Cobra."

"What?" Matt asked very confused turning to Emma for help. "That's nothing to do with fairy tales, or science fiction."

"It's to throw the "Evil Queen" off trail," Emma clarified. "So she doesn't catch onto our plan."

"Oh ok, and who may I ask is the Evil Queen?" Matt asked curiously.

"Regina," Henry said quietly. Matt's eyes widened and eyebrows rose quickly with his mouth hanging open. He knew that Henry and Regina probably had some issues bonding, but he didn't know that Henry thinks of his adopted mother like that. Evil? Isn't that a little extreme? That made Matt worried for him. So Regina can be quite hard to deal with, but that doesn't make her evil. That's got to be tough for Henry. Being afraid of his mother and keeping his distance, all because of a make belief world and not seeing any emotional way to connect with Regina. Matt wanted to speak up and tell Henry that this is silly but he couldn't bring himself to break Henry's heart. That be cruel.

"So, let me get this straight," Matt began after pushing his thoughts to the side. "Everyone is a character from your book. They just don't know it."

"That's the curse, time was frozen until you got here," Henry responded.

"What about their pasts?" Matt asked. Emma sighed seeing this conversation between Matt and Henry. This is becoming serious. First bringing Matt to town and now getting him mixed up with this magical nonsense. That was not fair to him in the first place, but Archie was right. Although Henry has an active imagination, it would be damaging to destroy his belief system. Especially when her and Henry has created a bond and now him and Matt are becoming friends. Emma knew that Matt wouldn't tell Henry that his world is fake. After getting to know him, Matt is far too kind and friendly to say the truth. Also, Emma knew Clara wouldn't either or anyone Henry's come in contact with.

But this is definitely overwhelming and nerve wracking for her and the other citizens of Storybrooke that have to put up with Henry's stories.

"They don't know. It's a haze to them. Ask anyone anything," Henry explained. "And you'll see."

"So let's see if I got this straight," Matt began trying to comprehend this information Henry has given him. "For decades, people have been walking around in a haze, not aging, with screwed up memories, stuck in a cursed town that kept them oblivious."

"I knew you'd get it. That's why we need you and Emma," Henry said glancing at the two of them. You both are the only ones who can stop her curse."

"I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, so that's why I'm the "saviour"," Emma told Matt with a smirk. He nodded in understanding.

"And right now, we have the advantage," Henry said going into his backpack and grabbing the pages ripped out of the time travel book. "My mom doesn't know that. I took out the pages with your information. The part with you in it. See? You are the Doctor. You are the saviour."

"Kid…" Matt said looking at the pages. He did have to admit, the Doctor did look a lot like him. He took a closer look and the Doctor looks creepily like him. Matt could see why Henry confused the Doctor with him. But, this is ridiculous. He's not the Doctor from BBC's Doctor Who. This is all made up. It's a fictional show. Of course aliens, time travel, and fairytales don't exist. That would be crazy. This is reality. Real people with real problems. This town is not under some "curse" that Henry thinks it is. Matt felt so sorry for the kid that he can't separate fantasies to reality. He sighed knowing that Henry has major issues which concerned him more. Now he needs to make sure Henry is going to be ok.

"I know the heroes never believes at first," Henry said packing up his backpack. He put his books away and the ripped out pages to Matt. "If they did, it wouldn't be a very good story. Read them."

Matt looked at the pages and turned to Emma as they shared a worried look. Emma shrugged and gave him a look to go along with Henry's theories. Matt sighed and nodded.

"But whatever you do, don't let Regina see these pages," Henry said putting his backpack on. "They're dangerous. If she finds out you're the Doctor, then it would be really bad."

"Kid-" Emma started in a worried tone, but Henry cut her off.

I got to walk to class," Henry said heading to the door. He walked to the classroom door and opened it. He turned around before leaving with a huge grin on his face. "But I'll find you two later and we can get started as a group. I knew you'd believe me, Matt!"

Henry slammed the door and scurried off to class. The warning bell rung for the students and teachers. Emma sighed as Matt went to his desk and sat down. He out the ripped pieces of paper on his desk and got out his other work. Emma walked over and stood by him.

"Look, I'll only be a second," Emma said as Matt looked up at her. "I know this is a lot to handle. I just wanted to say thank you for going along with this. It means a lot to Henry."

"Of course," Matt managed to say as Emma smiled and left. Matt went back to work as students started to arrive and taking their seats.

…

After school Henry grabbed his books and put them in his backpack. He smiled to Clara and Mary Margaret as he left. Clara turned to Mary Margaret as she spoke,

"It's great to see his smile back."

"It certainly is," Clara said crossing her arms. "It must be because of Matt."

"Oh, the new teacher?" Mary Margaret asked getting up from her chair. "Who does he think Matt is?"

"The Doctor," Clara said with a chuckle. "Isn't that silly?"

"Believe me, I had many school days of 'silly'," Mary Margaret said not surprised one bit. After all, she worked side by side with Henry for years. Mary Margaret started packing up her stuff as Clara did as well. When the finished, they headed out the door of their classroom together. Students were walking up and down the main hallway with books, coats, and backpacks. The hallway contained most of the school lockers. There were two bathrooms at each end of the hallway. One for girls and one for the boys. The women started to make their way down the hallway until Clara crashed into Matt. Her purse dropped to the floor and some of the utilities fell out.

"I am so sorry," Clara said feeling her face turn red due to embarrassment. She leaned over and started to put her stuff back in her bag. Matt chuckled and leaned down as well to help her.

"It's fine," Matt said. "You're Clara right?"

"Yes, and you're Matt, I remember," Clara said as she stood up along with him. They both smiled shyly at each other as Mary Margaret watched. Clara snapped out of her daze and felt even more embarrassed than before. "Well, thank you for helping me."

"Oh yeah, no worries," Matt said snapping out of his daze as well. They smiled again.

"I-I better get going, thanks again," Clara said as she started to walk away as well as Matt. Mary Margaret caught up to her and smiled. Clara glanced at Mary Margaret and blushed as she knew what she was thinking.

"Go for it," Mary Margaret said soothingly as they made their way to the front doors. "I'd saw the way you looked at him, and the way he looked at you. There's a connection there, I can see it."

"Oh stop it," Clara said as they left the school. She thought about it for a moment before smiling small. "You really think so?"

Mary Margaret nodded,

"I know it," she said as they walked onto the sidewalk. "Take a leap of faith. If there's someone out there, like Matt that you can picture yourself with.. don't run away. Embrace it, because you might miss your chance. Ask him for a cup of coffee or something."

"Now?"

"Yes!" Mary Margaret said giving her a nudge as they saw Matt leaving the school. "You know I'm right, Clara. Go for it."

Clara nodded and walked towards Matt. She smiled to herself knowing what a wonderful and true friend she has. Mary Margaret is about one of the nicest woman she's met in her life. Not that she hasn't met other nice people, but Mary Margaret was different from the rest. Just so kind, sweet and thoughtful. As she was walking towards Matt, Clara started to get chicken. Will he say no? Will he accept? What will happen, will they have anything in common? Is Mary Margaret right about this? Clara thought anything about backing out at the last second, but she knew that she had to do this. To build her confidence in general. She was never the strong and speaking up kind of person. Although she wanted to be, and now her chance to become more independent. She walked up to Matt and took a deep breath. Before she could say anything, Matt spoke first.

"Hi, again."

"Hi.. I was wondering, um, if you aren't busy…" Clara started immediately tense and nervous, then she blurts out, "Do you want to grab a cup of coffee?"

Matt looked at her and didn't know how to react. She was a beautiful woman, but is he ready to go on a date just after he moved into town? It's not like he hasn't gone on dates before, but they never lasted very long. There was one that lasted 6 months. But she ended it before Matt had a chance to tell her that he loves her. He didn't even know why she ended it. It came on so suddenly and surprisingly that it brought him to tears. After that, all of his dates had never lasted more than a couple months. Not even. But, Clara seemed different than the rest. Matt doesn't know what it is about her, but something about her felt different. He couldn't shake the feeling why. Matt knew he had to try again. What has he got to lose?

"Well, I'm free tomorrow," Matt replied nervously.

"Ok, tomorrow, same time?" Clara asked trying to stay strong and casual.

"Sounds good," Matt said with a small smile. Clara smiled back. "It's a date."

"Alright," Clara responded feeling better that she got this over with. They both parted ways with a big relief breath.

…

As Matt was walking down the street, he saw a sign that read, Dr. Archibald Hopper: Therapist. It clicked in his head that this man is Henry's therapist. Matt knew he shouldn't go in there and ask about this obsession that the kid has, because it's against the law. But on the other hand, he couldn't go along with Henry's beliefs and stories without a clear exclamation about what's really going on with Henry. Why is these stories so important to him? It made Matt very tempted to go in and ask, but he couldn't do it. He knew it was wrong to ask information from a Doctor about a patient. Matt knew the one person that would know about this, would be Emma. He wouldn't go to Regina because of his experience with her. He called Emma on his cell phone.

"Hey Emma?" Matt asked after two rings. "It's Matt. Hey, could I meet you at your place? I have questions about Henry. Ok.. yeah. Got it. See you in a bit."

Matt hung up his cell phone and walked down the street towards Mary Margaret's apartment. He had to know more about Henry in order to follow along with his stories. Matt got to her apartment building and walked up the creaky, wooden stairs to her apartment door on the left. He knocked and Emma answered.

"Hey," Emma said leaving the door open for him. Matt smiled at walked inside Mary Margaret's rusty, old apartment. He stood in the middle of the room and put his hands in his pockets. Emma closed the door and crossed her arms.

"I know this is weird but I can't go along with Henry's stories without knowing the truth," Matt said quickly and nervously. "Just answer me fairytale and science fiction obsession, what's causing it? I mean, I thought that Henry had a normal imagination like all the other kids I dealt with. Apparently it's way worse than I thought. I mean, he really thinks I'm the Doctor, and all the citizens are characters from his books... that's… crazy."

"I know," Emma said after a moment of silence. She was trying to find some sort of way to answer Matt's questions about Henry. She didn't really know herself, but after spending time with Henry and talking to Archie, she has a small understanding about Henry in general. She didn't know how to answer Matt, but she knew she had to think of some logical answer for him. "Henry thinks I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. I get it. I have his files. I just stopped by the other day and got them. Take it."

Emma handed out the files in her hand in front of Matt who looked shocked. She's just giving the files to him?

"What?" Matt asked confused.

"You seem to care a lot for Henry, about as much as I do, so it wouldn't be right if I didn't let you have a chance to look through the Shrink's notes," Emma explained with a small smile. "So take it. You'll see what I've been telling you. Just see that I get it back so I can return it."

"I will, thank you," Matt said with a smile holding onto the notes in the file. Emma smiled as Matt left the apartment. A minute later, Mary Margaret came down the stairs with some clean laundry. She smiled,

"Who was that?"

"Matt, he's just concerned about Henry, so I gave him the Shrink's notes," Emma said as Mary Margaret headed to the left side of the room to her bed. She laid the clothes out on her bed and turned around.

"That was nice of you," Mary Margaret replied.

"Well, I think he deserved them, after all, Matt is important to Henry," Emma said quietly. Mary Margaret looks at Emma for a moment and sighed catching on to her feelings she was trying to hide.

"And that bothers you?" Mary Margaret questioned.

"I- well, no," Emma said obviously lying because she wasn't making eye contact with her.

"Look, you are just as important to Henry as Matt is, probably more so," Mary Margaret said with a smile approaching Emma. "You are his birth mother, Emma. He went all the way to Boston to find you. You and Henry created a special bond. Doesn't that mean something?"

Emma smiled at Mary Margaret and knew that she was right. She was selling herself too short. Of course nothing's going to jeopardize their relationship. Not even Matt. She crossed her arms over her chest as Mary Margaret went back to folding her laundry.

…

Matt is sitting down at the kitchen table in his apartment reading the notes before he heard a knock at the door. He got up leaving the notes down until he opened the door and saw a redheaded woman in a police uniform with her arms crossed over her chest. Matt gulped nervously glancing at the papers and turned to face her.

"What can I do for you, officer?" asked Matt trying to remain calm.

"I'm here about missing files from Dr. Archibald Hopper," she said very strictly which made Matt a little nervous. "He said you stole Henry's files from his office after he refused to give them to you."

"No, that's not what happened!" Matt protested hearing this crazy story. "Archie gave them to Emma, and she gave them to me! I would never do that!"

"Well he's telling a different story," the policewoman said. "May I check your apartment, or else I'll have to get a search warrant."

"But-" Matt said in complete shock as she walked inside and saw the files scattered all over the kitchen table on the left hand side of his apartment. She turned around and faced him furiously with her hands on her hips.

"Well?" she said tapping her foot. "Care to explain?"

"I, Emma gave, um, that's not.. what it looks like.. it's uh, um-" Matt stammered as she picked up her foot tapping and gave him a look. Matt sighed and gave up knowing he's not going to win this argument.

"I'm afraid you are under arrest," The redheaded woman replied putting handcuffs behind Matt's back.

"This is absolutely ridiculous," Matt replied in an annoyed tone as the policewoman was putting the handcuffs on him. "I didn't do this! Don't you see what's going on here, this is a frame job!"

"Who would be setting you up, then?" The policewoman asked Matt, who went into deep thought about who would've done this to him. It couldn't be Emma, it can't be. She gave the files to him. She wouldn't set him up to go to jail, that would be silly. Emma wouldn't have any reason to send him to jail, because he never did anything to her. It couldn't be Clara, she wouldn't have any reason either. He couldn't think of anyone else he knew in town that would go as far as a frame job against him. Who would do this to him?

…

Matt had his hands on the cold, hard, black metal bars glaring at the policewoman and her deputy. The deputy was standing by him with a notepad and pencil in his hands. The police woman stood up from her desk and walked over to Matt. He is getting tired of being locked up over a misunderstanding. This is absurd, Matt would never break into a therapist's office just to see Henry's files. Plus, he never even met Archie before, so how could he have done this? Why would Archie tell a lie to a police officer and have him sent to jail? They never met! Matt sighed annoyed resting his chin on the jail bars with both hands on either side of his face. He is having a hard time convincing the police officers that this is a frame job.

"For the last time, I was not drunk!" Matt said with much anger in his voice. "This is absurd. The therapist is lying, I would never do this! Come on, do you really think a school teacher would risk his job this way?"

"I don't know, would you?" The deputy asked writing down some notes with his pencil.

"I give up, I give up," Matt said sitting down across from the jail cell bars annoyed that they didn't believe him. A few moments later, Emma and Henry bursted into the police station. Matt looked at the two of them and stood up. He walked over to the cell bars and held them with his hands in complete shock.

"E-Emma?" he stammered, then he looked down at Henry. "Henry? What, how?"

"I found out," Emma said before turning to the new police force. "You two replaced my job?"

"Regina just hired us," the police woman responded. "I'm Amber. This is Roger."

Roger smiled and shook Emma's hand. Emma turned to Matt and sighed very annoyed.

"Regina set you up," Emma said before glancing at Amber. "Unlock the door. Matt didn't do a damn thing wrong."

Amber nodded embarrassed that she messed up her first case already. Regina was strict with her and Roger when she hired them. She didn't want any goof ups or being misunderstood. Amber knew that Regina was quite a rude mayor but she can put up with her temper. Not very well, but she can. Amber got the key off her desk and unlocked the door. She gave Matt an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry this happened," Amber said feeling guilty for arresting him. Matt smiled slightly as he walked out of the jail cell.

"It's alright, it happens," Matt replied nicely as Amber smiled back. He turned to Emma surprised. "Regina set me up? Why? I didn't do anything to her."

"I'll fill you in later," said Emma giving looks at Henry as Matt caught on and nodded silently. It had to be something that Henry wasn't supposed to hear. Matt couldn't think of what that reason was, but it had to be something. It probably was something to due with the files, the "curse" and/or Henry's issues. These things couldn't be spoken of in front of Henry because it would just cause loads of drama.

"You are a genius Matt, gathering information for Operation Cobra," Henry said energetically as Amber and Roger exchanged confused glances.

"I'm lost," Roger said. "What is this?"

"Nevermind," Henry said quietly looking at his feet.

"I'll bail you out," Emma said as Matt eyes widened and eyebrows rose quickly in surprise of Emma's friendly act. It's not like he didn't think of Emma as a nice person, but she never done anything like this before. After getting to know Emma a bit better over the past couple days, she didn't seem like the person to warm up to anyone quite so quickly. "Then there's something we have to do."

"What's that?" Matt asked starting to get worried of what Emma is planning.

…

Emma, Henry and Matt were walking from the police station. Emma stopped and turned to Henry.

"Henry, you have to go now, Matt and I have to do something first before we can hang out," Emma said in a strict voice trying to stay strong and somewhat parental - like. "I promise we'll all do something later. Ok? Please?"

"Ok," Henry replied with a smile. "Talk to you guys later!"

Henry ran down the street with his backpack on. Matt then looked over at Emma still confused about what this is all about.

"Now can you explain this to me?"

"Regina set you up to make you leave town," Emma explained as they began walking down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of Henry. "She doesn't want you or me for that matter, to become close with Henry. She thinks that we are going to take Henry away from her."

"What?" Matt asked surprised trying to keep up with Emma's fast walking pace. "I knew she was quite difficult, but I didn't think anything like this."

"Trust me, I know," Emma replied remembering all the hard times Regina gave her when she came to town. It gave her the shivers just thinking about it. "She's gone too far this time. If Regina thinks a obvious frame job is going to scare us off, she's got another thing coming."

…

Emma has a chainsaw and plugged it in. Matt looked at her shocked. He didn't know Emma would go through great lengths to get back at Regina for having him arrested.

"Is this really necessary?" Matt asked nervously looking up at Regina's office and gulped. The first time Regina scolded him was hard enough. He didn't want to escalate this fight any farther. All Matt wanted to do is back off and leave things alone. But obviously Emma wanted revenge and this will just make matters worse. Watching Emma get the chainsaw set up gave him time to think. Emma and Regina must've had this fight for weeks and from the looks of things, Emma nor Regina isn't going to give up that easily. It made Matt wonder why they are still at it like this. Matt really does not want to be caught in the middle of their fight, but now Regina is adding him into it. He felt quite uneasy about being in a fight that's not worth increasing to bigger issues than it needs to be. Matt thought about it some more and this fight never needed to be started in the first place. It's absolutely absurd for them to fight over who cares more for Henry. Henry has room for all of them.

"Yes it is, Regina can't control who we're friends with," Emma said to Matt and turned on the chainsaw. "Especially with Henry."

She started to cut down the tree with the chainsaw. Matt backed off a little bit as apples began to drop from the tree, along with branches and leaves. The chainsaw made a loud enough noise that Matt had to take a couple more steps backwards. It was only a matter of time until Regina came storming out the back door of her house in full rage. Matt saw the expression on her face and it freaked him out more than it did the first time. She seemed a lot more angry than he's ever seen her.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Regina shouted. Emma turned off the chainsaw and smashed it down on the ground with a loud crash. Matt just stood by Emma in silence not wanting to add onto an argument that started before he came to town.

"Picking apples," Emma snapped back in anger as well.

"You're out of your mind!" Regina hollered back at Emma who rolled her eyes.

"No, arresting my friend and putting him in the most unsettling situation is out of your damn mind!" Emma shot back with her hands on her hips. "If you think a shoddy frame job is enough to force both of us out of town, you have to do much better than that. If you come back at either one of us one more time, I'm coming back for the rest of this god damn tree! Don't patronize me because sister, you have no idea what I'm capable of."

Emma started to walk away and called out to Matt,

"Let's go Matt," Emma said walking next to Regina. "If it's a war you want, it's a war you'll get. Your move."

Matt started to follow after Emma, but he noticed that Regina gave him a cold glare. Matt took a deep breath and walked away quickly after Emma in shock of the conflict she had with Regina. Matt had no idea that Emma had that much self confidence in herself and to be able to stand up for what's right. He wouldn't be able to do what Emma just did because Regina inspired a lot of fear towards him and that shut him off from speaking up. Especially towards people who are tougher than he is. But what really got to Matt is when Emma said that he was her friend. She never told anyone that before and never admitted it to him. It must've been after when he helped her with that teenaged pregnant woman, Ashley. After Matt recovered from his state of shock, he smiled in the smallest of ways because he knew that Emma and him would probably become better friends in the future.

…

Regina is in her office sitting at her desk as Amber and Roger came in through the front doors.

"Emma destroyed city property," Regina said in a very firm tone with the two. "I want her arrested."

"Not to sound crude Madam Mayor, but I looked through the files on Emma Swan," Amber began holding Emma's criminal records since she came to town and sighed. "Emma has been arrested a number of times since she moved here."

"And your point?" Regina said getting up from her chair and walked around her desk.

"I'm just not convinced arresting her is the right plan," Amber said trying to stay strong and and confident. "I'm sorry about your tree, and your conflict with Emma… putting that aside, I know Matt didn't steal those files."

"Oh you do, do you?" Regina replied crossing her arms and gave her a warning look. Amber gulped as well as Roger.

"Matt doesn't really seem like the type of person to do that," Amber continued trying to keep a straight face not showing any sign that she was nervous. She didn't want to tell Regina that she knew that she was the one behind the frame job. "He looked very shocked when I told him the Therapist's story. It seems to me the only logical exclamation is Matt was set up, and if he was set up then the Therapist was lying and if he was lying then it means someone asked him to. It's obvious this was a frame job."

"I think your new bond with Matt and Emma is clouding your judgement," Regina said scolding Amber who tried to act nonchalant and not giving Regina any satisfaction that she was nervous talking to her. "Remember I made you two the police force. I can take it away just as easily."

"If you want us to arrest Emma… again, we will," Amber said trying to stay relaxed and trying to tell herself that Regina is just a person.

"Good."

"It seems to me that you both had many striving encounters," Amber added on which made Regina turn around and put her hands on her hips. "From what I heard, you two continually come at each other and it's only going to get worse. Do you really think that you'll get them out of town?"

"Matt and Emma are confusing my son's mind," Regina said quite firmly. "Henry has enough issues without those two in the picture. I will succeed because I'm his mother and I know what's best for him. Now stop asking questions and both of you… do your job."

"Yes Ma'am," Amber and Roger said at the same time as they left Regina's office. Regina walked behind her desk and looked out the window at her damaged apple tree and sneered.

…

Emma and Matt are sitting at a booth in Granny's diner. They both didn't really know what to say to each other after that moment at Regina's. It was much too awkward to say anything until Ruby came back with the checks for the coffee's they ordered. Matt took the check as he glanced up at Emma. He sighed knowing becoming closer friends isn't going to be as easy as he thought it was. Considering her behaviour and complex attitude towards him and others. Emma put down the check as her cell phone rings. She picks it up from her pocket and answered it.

"Yeah?"

"Hello Miss. Swan, I am happy to continue demonstrating my power but I'm guessing you and Matt are not leaving Storybrooke?" Regina replied on the other line from her office. She is sitting down in her chair in front of her desk.

"Nope," Emma responded flatly and mouthed Regina to Matt who nodded annoyed.

"Well then, I think it's time we all made peace, don't you think?" Regina said with a smirk. "Why don't you and Matt come over?"

"Fine," Emma said before hanging up and looked at a confused Matt.

"What was that about?" He asked.

"Regina wants the three of us to make peace, so she invited us to her office," Emma said before standing up along with Matt.

"Isn't this a little.. Odd?" Matt asked as they left the diner.

"You have no idea," Emma replied as they went onto the sidewalk heading towards Regina's house.

…

Emma and Matt are sitting on the couch across from Regina who is in a chair. Matt looked around and her office was decorated quite unusually. Black and White wallpaper and a bowl of apples in front of them on the coffee table.

"I would like to start of by apologizing," Regina started as both Emma and Matt looked at each other surprised. "I'll just have to accept the reality that Matt has been transferred to this school and you, Miss. Swan aren't intending to leave."

"That's right," Emma responded standing her ground.

"And that you two are going to take my son from me," Regina said flatly.

"Ok, let's be clear, Emma and I don't have any intention of taking Henry from you," Matt added in feeling a little anger creeping up because Regina is so annoying.

"Then why are you both spending time with my son?" Regina asked seeing Henry looking in behind the doors unnoticed by either Matt or Emma.

"I know I'm not a mother," Emma started. "But I did have him, and I can't leave town until I know he's ok. The more you try and push me out, the more I want to be here."

"And what is going on between you and my son?" Regina asked Matt as Emma turned to face him wondering the same question. She knew that Matt and Henry got along but she didn't know what to make of their relationship. Matt's not Henry's father, nor parental figure. He's just a friend. Emma also wondered what Henry truly thinks of him besides the fact that he thinks Matt's the Doctor. It made Emma think for the slightest moment that Henry doesn't have a father, well, a father that knows he exists. So, he might be trying to turn Matt into that father figure he never had and wished it. It made Emma feel somewhat guilty for not mentioning Henry's father to him, and the fact that she didn't try and contact him. For Henry. But she couldn't go back to those feelings and memories she tried so hard to push down upon many years. Emma didn't want to do that to herself, even if it meant keeping Henry out of that part of her life.

"Well, I'm not really sure, all I know is that ever since I met Henry… for whatever reason, I can't get him out of my head seeing how… Troubled he is."

"You think he's troubled?" Regina asked glancing at Henry who is starting to develop tears, but still listening in.

Matt sighed at continued,

"I worked with children for quite some time and a lot of them had active imaginations, but Henry really thinks that everyone's a character from his books according from what I've seen and read about in the files."

"And you don't believe him?" Regina asked as Henry was getting very emotional and upset trying to keep himself together but it was becoming very difficult.

"How can I?" Matt responded feeling very worried for Henry. "I've only known Henry for two days and he can't separate fantasies to reality. To be honest, I'm extremely concerned that his troubles are only going to grow worse. I mean, the time travel and fairytales.. it's all crazy."

Listening in on the group conversation, something in Henry snapped. He couldn't control his emotions or think straight. Now knowing that Matt thinks he's crazy about everything just brought him to tears and shattered his heart. The one person Henry thought he could trust the most in the world, besides Emma, doesn't believe him. Henry started crying uncontrollably and the tears travelled from his cheeks to the hallway floor. Since he knows the truth, Henry wouldn't be able to trust him completely or tell him anything. Henry didn't know how to process this information properly or even how to react. Henry's whole belief system broke into millions of pieces and didn't want to think about the "curse" or "time travel". It just brought him frustration. He just ran into Regina's office with big, red puffy eyes.

Emma and Matt looked at Henry completely shocked. Did Henry just hear everything that was said? Was this Regina's plan all along?

"You think I'm crazy?!" Henry yelled out in tears to Matt who was surprised to see him.

"Henry, I can explain-" Matt tried but Henry ran out of the room crying. Emma shot Regina a cold glare in so much anger and frustration. How low could Regina go? This is absolutely mind blowing. How could Regina do this to her own son? Hurt him in the process of just trying to strike back at them? This brought Emma new horrible thoughts towards Regina and Matt was beginning to feel what Emma had felt for weeks.

"How long was he there?" Emma snapped. "You knew he'd be there didn't you?"

"How could you do that?" Matt added firmly.

"Did I know that my son comes to my office every Thursday at precisely 5:00 pm so I can take him for dinner before his therapy session?" Regina explained with a smirk crossing her legs on the chair. "Of course I did. I'm his mother."

Matt got up furiously.

"You have no soul," Matt snapped as he ran out the door after Henry. "Henry!"

"Why the hell would you do this to Henry?" Emma said raising her voice as she ran out Regina's office.

…

Matt and Emma barged into Henry's therapy session as he sat there with his arms crossed and refused to look at Matt. Archie looked at the two completely surprised.

"You must be Matt, I'm so sorry, the Mayor forced me to lie," Archie said sitting in his chair across drop Henry sitting on the singular couch.

"I get it," Matt said before leaning down in front of Henry who looked away from him. This tore Matt's heart.

"Henry I'm sorry," Matt tried but Henry wouldn't listen. He just continued to look away.

"If Regina knew you two were here-" Archie tried to explain but Emma cut him short.

"To hell with her," Emma snapped. Archie remained silent and felt somewhat uneasy. Emma walked over to Henry and placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. "Henry, Matt is trying to apologize."

Henry remained silent as Matt and Emma shared worried glances. Matt put a hand on Henry's leg and rubbed it.

"Henry, listen, I'm sorry," Matt said soothingly. "You truly are a special kid and I never meant to hurt you in any way. I wanted us to become friends."

"You think I'm crazy," Henry said quietly trying not to look at Matt who sighed trying to come up with some way out of this.

"No, that's not what I meant, I think the curse is crazy," Matt continued which made Henry look at him curiously as well as Emma. "It is crazy. It's a lot to ask me, Emma, or anyone to believe in. But what do we all know, maybe it is true."

"But you told my Mom-"

"What she needed to hear," Matt replied continuing on of what he can remember about the curse. "If curse is real, we don't want the evil queen on our trail. So I made up that story to trick her into thinking we are non believers. Isn't that how we can break this curse?"

Henry sat up in excitement and a smile awoken on his face relieved that this was all a plan and not true.

"Brilliant!"

Emma chuckled relieved that Henry is going to be ok and that Matt helped him. Emma knew right then and there that Matt truly is Henry's best friend.

"I read the pages with my information, and Henry, you're right, it's dangerous," Matt said handing them Emma who threw them in the fireplace. Henry's grin grew broader and could barely control himself. "There. Now Regina won't be able to get her hands on those pages."

"Wow, this is just awesome," Henry said jumping off the couch and hugged Matt for the first time. Matt quickly returned it and looked up at Emma who smiled and nodded silently. She leaned down and rubbed Henry's back. Henry released the hug and brought them both in for a hug. "I knew you moved here to help me!"

"That's right kid, both Emma and I are," Matt lied for Henry's sake and shared a glance with Emma. "And nothing's going to change that. Not even a curse."

Emma smiled tearfully at Matt who did the same. They saved Henry's belief system from being destroyed.