Chapter 21

To all of you mourning the loss of Regina, rest assured her story is not complete. That's not to say she'll be rising from the dead, but we definitely have more story to see. I'm positive you'll all be satisfied by the time this fic is complete ;) Thanks so much for all your reviews, they make me want to keep writing forever!

"I don't understand. What exactly do you think August did? And why would he betray us?" James wasn't eager to accuse a man of a crime without having all the facts.

"Regina made it very clear that there's someone here we can't trust. I don't know what he did, or if he's even done anything at all yet, but the last thing we need around here is a traitor. We find him, we lock him up until we can figure out how to deal with Rumplestiltskin, and we worry about the rest later."

"And what if he's innocent?"

"Then he'll just have to understand. We don't have time for trials and investigations; we need to do whatever we can to keep this town safe. If we're wrong I'll be the first one to apologize." Emma was walking fast, urged forward equally by the need to act and the fear of being in the open, deserted streets for too long. She knew it wasn't rational, but she didn't believe for one damn second that Rumple died in that fire.

"So where are we going?" James asked. He had no idea where to even begin looking for August.

"Regina's house," Emma replied.

James opened his mouth to ask why, then decided against it. This was Emma's domain and he wasn't going to question her methods. Still, he couldn't help suspecting that her emotions may be clouding her judgement slightly.

It didn't take them long to arrive at Regina's house, nearly jogging by then. Emma led the way up the path and into the cavernous foyer, where she finally paused to take in her surroundings. "What are we looking for?" James asked.

"I'm not sure." It was partially true. Emma wasn't sure there was anything relevant in this house, but there was something here that she wanted and it was as good a place as any to begin her search for August. After all, he'd obviously come into contact with Regina somehow or else she wouldn't have known he was untrustworthy. So she headed into Regina's study, James close behind with his sword drawn at his side.

They searched the whole main floor and found nothing of use. Nothing was even out of place; Regina had a real affinity for order. Moving upstairs Emma glanced quickly into Henry's old room, which had been left closed, and saw a thin layer of dust had settled over everything. Except one spot on his bedside table, where something had been removed. Emma wracked her brain, trying to figure out if this was of any importance. Then it hit her: his light. The one he had been trying to retrieve the night he returned to the house. Where had it gone? Had Regina thrown it out? She made a mental note to ask Henry, then quickly dismissed the idea, not wanting to admit to him that the light was probably lost. It wasn't really important for their current mission anyway. She backed out of the room, shaking her head to James, and carefully closed the door.

The next room they came across was Regina's. Emma had never set foot in it, but she knew it wasn't a guest room. She couldn't help the look of shock that crossed her face; the room was completely destroyed. It looked like a bomb had gone off. Every pieces of furniture was at least cracked, if not blown to pieces. Bits of wood and glass and even shredded clothing were strewn everywhere. "Do you think August came here looking for something?" James asked, looking around at the destruction.

Emma knelt down and picked up a thin piece of wood, probably from the dresser. She turned it over in her hand, inspecting it closely. It was charred, as though it had been used for firewood and rescued from the flames just before being completely consumed. Emma turned to hand the piece to James, but before she could reach out to him she saw someone in the doorway and she sprang to her feet. James whirled and in less time than it took Emma to blink, the intruder was pinned against the wall, a sword at his throat. "Whoa! Relax, it's just me."

August's smile faltered as Emma glared at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I went to the diner to find you but it was empty. I was worried about everyone, but I didn't know where to look. I've been running around town trying to find some sign, and I finally caught a glimpse of movement in here. I thought it was probably Regina so I hid and watched and I finally saw you in the window. I came up here to find out what's going on. Is everyone alright?"

Emma stared at him hard. He tried to recoil but there was nowhere for him to go, and James kept the blade tight to his skin. "Did you have anything to do with Regina's death?"

"Regina? She's dead?" Emma nodded, keeping her eyes locked on his. "I haven't seen Regina since before the curse broke. Emma, I don't understand, what's going on?"

"Did you say anything to Rumplestiltskin that might have put anyone in danger?" She asked, ignoring his question and his discomfort.

"Of course not!"

Before he could question her again, she asked, "Did you know where Henry was hiding the night of the fire? Did you have anything to do with the enchantment breaking?"

"Emma, you have to believe me, I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Let him go," Emma said. James looked at her, confused. "He's telling the truth. Let him go."

"Emma, his nose might not grow here like it did in the Enchanted Forest. We can't just take his word." He said it so seriously that Emma nearly burst out laughing. She was relieved to see that she was still somewhat aware of the ridiculousness of her situation.

"I'm not talking about his nose. I know when people are lying, and August is telling the truth." Emma felt slightly uncomfortable talking about her ability, now that she was ready to admit it was more than just good instincts. James hesitated, but eventually decided he trusted Emma, even if he didn't understand exactly how she knew any of this.

"If August isn't the traitor we need to find out who is, and fast," James said.

"Traitor?" August asked, rubbing his neck where he had felt the cold steel.

"Regina tried to warn me not to trust someone here, but Rumplestiltskin showed up before she could tell me who. Henry was with her yesterday and she told him that his book was either written after the curse was cast, or changed after it was cast, because some of the information in it was only true after they arrived in Storybrooke."

"And you suspected me because I already altered the book once before." August nodded, accepting their suspicion graciously.

"That and you're the only person besides Regina who retained their memories after the curse was broken."

"That we know of," James said gravely. They all exchanged looks. He was right; anyone could have faked the amnesia. Unfortunately that put them back at square one.

"If you know when people are lying, can't you just interrogate everyone?" August asked.

"We have no idea who it is or what their motives are. We're not even sure what exactly they did to betray us, although there's a long list of possibilities. If we let them know we're onto them who knows what they might do? We need to be careful." James looked around the room, wondering where to look now that they had no suspects.

Emma remembered what she'd been doing before August appeared and quickly handed the charred wood to James. "It looks like it was burned."

"You think that has something to do with the fire?" August asked.

"Maybe whoever set it came here first," Emma suggested.

James shook his head, examining the wood. "Why would they destroy the place? I could maybe understand someone tearing it apart looking for something, but it's completely destroyed. And why is it only this room? Everywhere else is pristine."

"What are you thinking?" Emma asked.

"I think Regina set that fire," he said, lowering his voice instinctively.

"What? Are you out of your mind? She died in that fire!"

James looked at Emma, his eyes full of pity. Emma wanted to slap him for it. "That doesn't mean she didn't set it. Look around you. These pieces of wood are burnt, but nothing else is. That window pane is cracked, but there's no central point of impact. The bed is cracked clean in half. This wasn't done by someone with a bat and a lighter; it was done with magic."

"Regina lost it and trashed her own room," August said. James nodded.

"Why would she set the forest on fire?" August looked at Emma as though she were being naïve and she felt her jaw tighten. "There are easier ways to commit suicide," she said through clenched teeth.

"It doesn't matter now. Even if Regina did set the fire, she still saved your life. She might still have been right about the traitor, and we can't take the risk that she wasn't. Let's finish searching and then we can decide what to do next." James began picking through the debris for possible clues and August joined him.

While they searched, Emma slipped out of the room and headed to Regina's upstairs office. As she expected, it was immaculate. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for. Lying on the mantel over the fireplace were several large pieces of paper, all of them with one jaggedly torn edge. She grabbed them and carefully slipped them inside her jacket, then resumed the search with James and August. Eventually they all conceded defeat and left the house together.

"So tell me," James said as they headed back into the street, "where were you all this time?"

"I was trying to find Rumplestiltskin's dagger. I thought if I could just get my hands on it I could stop all of this, but obviously he knew someone would come looking for it and he wasn't about to just leave it lying around. When I was in his shop I found a drawer that was sealed with magic. I'm not sure that's where he hid the dagger, but it had to be something important. There was this symbol on it and it looked really familiar, but I couldn't quite place it, so I went back to the diner."

"I don't remember seeing you come back," Emma said.

"You were gone to confront Regina. Anyway, I asked Henry to let me take a look at his book. It didn't take me long to find the symbol I was looking for. It was in an illustration of the Evil Queen. I asked Henry about it and he told me about the mausoleum, so I went there to check it out. I searched for a while but I couldn't get inside the building."

"It was protected by an enchantment. No one could get in without Regina's permission," Emma explained.

August nodded. "I knew I'd seen the symbol before and it was driving me crazy. I hopped on my bike to clear my head and suddenly I remembered: I saw it when I was a kid. The guy who found us and called the police to come get us had a chain around his neck with a pendant that looked just like that."

"Impressive memory," Emma said with a smile.

"I headed out to the diner, trying to find the guy or at least someone who knew him, but no luck. So I came back here to tell you what I found, but when I got here the forest was on fire and I couldn't get into town."

"The fire stretched that far?" Emma said, stunned.

"I saw a tree that fell down across the main road. It probably carried the fire to the other side. I didn't know what to do, and I didn't have a phone, so I went back to the diner. I called the fire department but by the time we got back to Storybrooke the fire was out. They gave me a huge lecture about giving a false report – something about a raging forest fire not just putting itself out in less than half an hour – and they left. I went to Granny's but you were all gone, so I went into the B&B for the night. And you know everything that happened after that. How did you guys put the fire out so fast, anyway?"

"We have no idea. We all gathered at the hospital, on the other side of town, and we didn't go back to the forest until the morning."

"Wait a second," Emma said. "The fire was already out when you came back? That couldn't have been very late, probably not long after we all got out."

"So?" August asked.

"So who put the fire out?"

Place your bets now, folks ;) I can't wait to hear your theories! I am enjoying this way too much :D