Chapter 25: Not Long At All

Cait woke up rather late in the afternoon. She sat up in her cot, as she was still occupying one from the storm, refusing to go back to the woman who had been taking care of her during the Curse. She knew that the teachers at the school have probably realized that she was no longer planning on attending, having not really been a student during the Curse and not shown up since it broke.

"Having a cat nap?" A male voice called out, causing the Cheshire to let instinct take over. All of a sudden, Rumplestiltskin found himself with a knife against his throat. "Careful now, you don't want anyone to get hurt." To add emphasis, he let magic flow around his hand, showing that he would retaliate if she struck him.

"What do you want?" Cait snapped coldly as she removed her dagger.

"Nothing really." The pawn shop owner replied, "Just wanted you to be aware that I know what you're doing."

"Oh." The Cheshire said icily, twirling her dagger between her fingers.

"I know you were the one who told Dr. Whale of Regina's vault, and the one who provided him with the heart."

"What exactly is your point of this conversation?" Cait snapped, annoyed.

"I just hope you know what you're doing." Rumplestilskin stated knowingly, "Revenge is a tricky business after all."

"Something that you know oh so well." Cait sneered, "I've heard the tales of you, wizard, they reached even my land."

"Even so," Rumplestiltskin continued, not at all fazed, "Are you sure that this is the path you wish to go down? You cannot return once you go down that path."

"Why are you even so concerned? Last I checked you sent a wraith after the tart."

"I am not, but I doubt your child would be happy to find out that you walked down such a path."

CLANG

Cait didn't even realize she dropped her dagger as she glared at the man before her, mind frozen in shock. "How?"

"It is not too hard for me to find out." Rumplestiltskin responded coolly, "Perhaps you should think about your child before you think about revenge."

"So you're trying to wrong your mistakes through me, is that it?" Cait questioned, "Well, back off, my kid's a Cheshire, we're taught at a young age to kill."

"True, but we both know he isn't a full Cheshire." With those parting words, Rumplestiltskin left, leaving a glaring teenager in his wake.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kyle barely paid attention as he walked towards the soccer field, headphones blasting music into his ears. He had called Cait an hour or so ago and asked if they could hang out. Eventually, the two decided to meet at the soccer field, their typical hang out. If he was paying attention, he might have noticed the bottle that was in his friend's hand before he was two feet away from her.

"'Ello, mate." Cait's drunk greeting reached his ears as he removed his headphones.

"Are-Are you drunk?" Kyle stammered in shock, having not expected to find his friend intoxicated, bottle of whiskey in her hands.

"And?" The slurred reply only made Kyle question how much she had drank. Judging by the amount of alcohol left in the bottle, a lot.

"Where did you even get that?"

"Why want some?" The brunette offering him the bottle.

"No." Kyle snapped as he slapped the whiskey right out of her hands and onto the grass.

"Hey, that was mine!"

"Why're you drinking?" Kyle snapped. He was angry, though not really at the Cheshire, he just hated alcohol. One of the few classmates he became friends with back in New York died after getting drunk, having passed out and ended up choking on his own vomit.

"Why not?" She shrugged. She needed a drink after the last few days. Finding out she was stuck in her human form and away from her home, almost getting a child killed during her revenge scheme against Regina, being reminded of her own child and the child's father. Too much for her to handle right now without some help from Mr. Jack Daniels.

"Cait…" Kyle sighed, "I might not be good at analyzing people like my sister, but I do know that if you get drunk by yourself there's a good reason for it."

"Piss off, no one asked you!" Cait snapped as she attempted to stand up, only to fall right back onto the ground.

"I'm your friend, Cait."

"I don't have friends!" Cait responded drunkenly, "People outside my clan are only trouble if we consider them as more than targets and clients."

"That's not true, Cait," Kyle shook his head, "I'm your friend and I won't be trouble."

"That's what I thought the last time…" Cait muttered softly to herself, but Kyle had heard her.

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked, startling the feline, a conversation they had earlier left him to believe that he was her first friend outside of her clan, if she was lying at the time, then who was she speaking of that seemingly betrayed her trust.

"Sod off!" Cait cursed him before she started to disappear before Kyle's eyes, "Should have never bothered with this bloody meeting."

Soon enough, she was gone, leaving a confused teenager standing in the field.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at Jefferson's home, mother and daughter were in a room, with several outfits laid out on the bed.

"Do you know where papa is taking you?" Grace asked as Kat fidgeted around the room.

"No… granted there aren't that many places in town to go to." Kat told her daughter as she continued to pace.

"Why are you so nervous, mama?" Grace asked, confused by her mother's actions. She knew that both her mama and papa loved each other, so why was her mother so worried-looking.

"…" Kat blushed, not really expecting having to tell this to her child, granted a month ago she would not have expected even having a child, "I've never actually gone on a 'romantic date' before. Most of the dates I had before I met your father were to bars and watching sports." And those were quiet few to begin with, as most of the guys she hung out with were old high school buddies who she couldn't ever see dating.

"Isn't that why I'm here to help you pick out an outfit for tonight?" Grace questioned, causing her mother's blush to increase. Yes, the twenty-seven year old was so inexperienced with dating that she was asking her ten-year-old daughter for help. It was mostly because she had seen that Grace had grown up rather girly, while Kat was never truly girly in her life. She had one stint at age five where she wanted to be a princess, and a week later she wanted to be a pirate or a Viking, that was basically the extent of girly-ness Kat had. So she figured a girly-girl like her daughter would be able to help her with making herself look presentable.

"Yeah." Kat coughed, trying to hide her blush, "Don't tell anyone that I asked you for help, ok?"

"Ok, mama." Grace shrugged, not seeing why her mom was getting flustered over the current situation. Speaking of, Grace turned to look at the outfits that Kat had taken out of her bag, examining them. "So these are your clothes?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know anything about where papa might take you?"

"No, I only know that he wants to take me out on a romantic date." Kat shrugged, not at all sure what her husband was planning.

"Hmm," Grace hummed as she looked at the clothes. Kat had grabbed a couple of nice shirts, two pair of jeans, three different pairs of tights, and three different dresses. She also had three pairs of shoes: her biker boots, a pair of navy knee-high converse and a pair of white flats. Contrary to what most would think of her, Kat did wear dresses and skirts from time to time, just not that often. "Not the jeans then, you should definitely wear a dress." Grace said, causing her mother to nod.

"Okay then." Kat said as she went and piled up the shirts and jeans together, going to put them away once she chooses which dress to wear. "Now the question is which dress."

"How about this one?" Grace suggested, pointing to the blue and black plaid dress.

"I guess." Kat shrugged before looking at her clothes, "I guess I could wear the black tights and flats with them."

"Try it on!" Grace cheered, handing the clothes to her mother before ushering her to the bathroom.

"Alright, alright." Kat laughed, "Why do I suddenly feel like a giant Barbie doll?"

"I wanna see what it looks like on you." Grace said as she stood on the other side of the closed bathroom door.

A moment or two later, Kat walked out in the dress, which fell halfway to her knees. The dress was sleeveless, with three over lapping teardrop-shaped pieces of fabric going off the shoulders. At the collar and hem were thin strips of black lace. It was not very revealing, the neckline barely showing off her collarbone, but it also was not too unappealing.

"You look very pretty, mama." Grace complimented, causing her mother to blush.

"Thank you, Grace." Kat responded, "Hopefully your father will think so too."

"Oh, I know he will!" Grace grinned happily.

"Well, I have a few hours until I find out." Kat sighed, "What do you want to do until then?"

"Can you tell me about how you and papa met?" Grace asked, "I know papa's told me before but I wanna hear the story from you."

"Sure." Kat smiled before plopping onto the bed with Grace, the two getting comfy as Kat began to tell her daughter about the day she met her future husband.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Soon enough, it was time for Jefferson and Kat to begin their date. Kat was waiting patiently in Grace's bedroom for Jefferson to come get her as he said he would.

"Will ya stop fidgeting, Sis, you're gonna burn a hole into the rug." Kyle told his sister as he sat on stool by the vanity. He had been drafted as the babysitter for tonight.

Yeah, she wasn't actually being patient in the slightest.

"I'm just nervous, is all." Kat responded, slowing down in her pacing.

"You two are married." Kyle reminded her, "There's nothing to be nervous about. You're already in love with each other."

"Doesn't mean I can't be nervous." Kat snapped, "Last time Jefferson took me out for something besides work was when he proposed to me."

"Seriously?" Kyle asked in disbelief.

"Well, work was pretty time consuming. After he proposed the only time we had off from work was our wedding and honeymoon." Kat explained, "And when I found out I was pregnant with Grace, though that was when I basically stopped working with him."

"Dang." Kyle drawled out, having not expected that, "I'm still sure you have nothing to worry about."

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Here's your prince charming." Kyle teased, knowing that the person knocking was Jefferson.

"More like my mad hatter." Kat responded, trying to stay calm as she walked over to the door. Soon enough, she opened the door to see, to no surprise, Jefferson standing on the other side.

"Wow." Jefferson breathed as he took in Kat's appearance. She looked more lovely than usual tonight in his eyes. His eyes trailed up and down her body as he took in the sight before him. "You- you look amazing."

"Thanks." Kat said as she glanced at her husband. He was wearing his typical attire, something that Kat did not mind as he looked handsome in it anyways. "You look good yourself."

"Alright, you two, go have fun." Kyle said, standing up, doing his best impression of an overprotective father as he faced the portal jumper, "I want her back by eight and no funny business, alright?"

Kat just turned and stared at her brother blankly while Jefferson looked at him in confusion. "Never do that again, Kyle." Was the only thing Kat could say in response.

"That bad acting huh?" Kyle said, ignoring Grace's giggles from where she was sitting.

"What was that about?" Jefferson asked, baffled.

"Just ignore him." Kat rolled her eyes before turning to look at Grace, "Bye, Grace."

"Bye, Mama. Bye, Papa." Grace said, waving her hand from where she sat at her small table, having already started another tea party.

"Bye, Grace." Jefferson smiled at his daughter before he led Kat out to where he had his car parked. The moment they got to the car, however, Kat froze. That immediately caught her husband's attention. "What's wrong, Alice?"

"Let's take my bike instead." Kat suggested, purposely ignoring his question.

"But I don't know how to drive a motorcycle and I'm the only one who knows where we are going." Jefferson stated, not understanding why Kat had frozen like that.

"You can give me directions as we drive along." Kat told him, already walking towards her bike.

"Kat." Jefferson called out, grabbing his wife by the wrist to stop her, "What's going on? Why are you so afraid-" He stopped what he was saying as if he realized something, "You are afraid of the car, aren't you?"

"…" She refused to make contact, "Yeah, I hate the thought of being in a car."

"Why?"

"My parents died in a car crash around the time I was that age where you could get your license to drive." Kat told him, "Kinda leaves you not liking cars."

Jefferson stared at her for a few more moments before sighing and letting her wrist go, "Alright, we'll take your motorcycle."

"Thank you, Jefferson." Kat smiled softly at him, glad that he did not make fun of her paranoia of cars. The two then walked over to Kat's bike, she handed him Kyle's helmet before placing her own on. Once they were ready, she took off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eventually, the two ended up in the forest, where Jefferson made her stop the motorcycle.

"Oh, come on, Jefferson!" Kat whined as her husband tied his scarf around her eyes, blinding her.

"No, I want it to be a surprise." He whispered into her ear. Shivers involuntarily went down the woman's spine as she felt Jefferson's breath against her ear.

"Fine." She huffed, letting her husband drag her to who knows where. Soon enough, Jefferson had stopped her, though he had yet to remove the blindfold. "Are we there yet?" Kat asked, "Can I take this off already?"

"You're being awfully impatient, my Alice." Jefferson said from behind her.

"You weren't complaining about my impatience last night." She smirked.

"Just give me a moment, love." Jefferson told her before moving away from his wife. Kat heard a faint click before she felt Jefferson had moved back to her side. "Okay, now." He then removed the scarf from her, allowing her to see what he had planned.

"Jefferson…" Kat breathed out in shock. They were in a clearing. On the ground was a blanket with a simple dinner laid out on it. Hanging from the trees were small lanterns that, if you did not really notice looked similar to fireflies. Minus the picnic, this reminded her of something else. "This… This almost looks like-"

"The spot in Wonderland where I proposed." Jefferson finished for her. "I figured that this would be the most appropriate spot to give you this." Kat turned to face her husband to see him taking off a necklace, one she had not really noticed before. He held it out before her, letting the object that was hanging off of it dangle in her view.

"My ring." Kat muttered in surprise. She remembered that she had taken it off the night she left when she gave Grace her bath and had not gotten the chance to put it back on when Jareth had taken her away. "I would have thought that it would still be in the Enchanted Forest."

"No," Jefferson shook his head, "I kept it with me since that night. It was the only reminder I had left of you besides our Grace."

"Then how didn't I notice the last few nights?" Kat questioned, curious, "I know for a fact that I would have noticed it if you had been wearing it like you were just a moment ago."

"While I was waiting for you to wake up," Jefferson began to explain as he placed the ring in her hands, "I went to the jewelers to get it engraved."

Curious, Kat looked down at the band, twisting it around so she could get a good look. On the inside of the band, elegantly carved out were two words: eternally yours.

"Jefferson." She whispered, not sure what to say, not even sure if she could say anything as it felt like the breath had been taken out of her.

"I would love it if you would once again wear this ring. If you'll still have me." Jefferson told her before patiently waiting for her response.

SMACK!

Okay… that was not the response he expected. Jefferson winced as he held his now burning cheek.

"Idiot!" She cried out, "Dumbass!"

"What?" He blinked confused as to why she had slapped him and started to insult him. He watched as she then slipped the ring off the chain and placed it back where it belonged, on her finger. Now he was really confused.

"Did you really think that after the last few nights that I wouldn't accept?" Kat raised an eyebrow at him. It was obvious to Kat now that he still felt guilty over what happened before the Curse hit. Well, she'd just have to hammer it into his head that it's nothing to be guilty over. Later, not now though. For now, she had other plans in her mind for her husband.

"I-" What ever it was that Jefferson was going to say was cut off by Kat grabbing him by the jacket and pulling him into a fierce kiss.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, Kat had decided to go visit Red, and possibly help out at the diner. She figured she might do something productive in the town, even if Jefferson whined about her going. Not that she could blame him, it might have been only two years since she had seen him, not that she even remembered, but it had been over thirty years since Jefferson saw her.

Soon enough, she was parked outside the diner. As she was taking off her helmet, she saw Charming hurriedly walking to the diner's door.

"What's going on?" Kat asked, worried by the way his body language told her whatever it was that happened was not good.

"Granny said Ruby escaped from the freezer last night." Charming explained as the two walked into the diner.

"Wait. What?" Kat asked, confused.

"David, thank heavens you're here. We need to find Ruby." Granny said, coming out from the back room. It was then that the old woman noticed Kat, "Oh, Kat, this is a really bad time."

"What's going on, Granny?" Kat asked the older woman, "What happened to Ruby? David said you locked her in a freezer and she escaped."

"She's a werewolf, Kat." Charming told her. To both his and Granny's surprise, Kat just shrugged it off. Red had mentioned it once before, though it seems that she didn't tell her grandmother or Charming that she had let Kat know. Then again, Kat had only really told Red about her past, so how would they know that she didn't find Red being a werewolf strange? There were only a handful of people in town who knew she used to live in the Enchanted Forest.

"And last night was a full moon." Kat muttered, remembering that she saw the full moon last night during her picnic with Jefferson. That would explain why they locked Red in the freezer, to stop the wolf from going wild on the townsfolk.

"We need to find her and make sure she didn't hurt anyone." Granny said, though she looked at the young woman in confusion. As far as she knew, the woman was technically an outsider who was pulled into this by misfortune, so it was rather odd for her to take this all in so easily.

"Okay." Kat nodded, "Let me help, Ruby is my friend."

"Alright." Charming nodded before the three left the dinner, in search of the missing werewolf.

Eventually, the three ended up in the forest, with Granny leading them.

"This way. Over here" Granny called out as she led them deeper into the forest. Soon enough, they found Ruby sleeping on the ground. "Ruby. Ruby, wake up." Granny ordered the girl as she, Charming and Kat knelt down by her.

"Hey." Charming called out to her when the woman started to wake up.

"You okay?" Kat asked, concerned about the poor girl.

"Where am I? What happened?" Red asked, not fully aware as to what happened.

"You're in the forest. You must have fallen asleep here last night." Charming explained as he and Kat helped Red up.

"I-I don't understand. You put me in that cage. You locked me up."

"The freezer was torn to shreds when I came to check in on you this morning." Granny explained to her only relative. Needless to say, that wasn't something Red wanted to hear. The poor girl started to freak out, scared she hurt someone while she was the wolf.

"Ruby." Charming tried to calm her down, "Ruby, it's alright."

"No. It's not." Red shook her head in disagreement, "I don't remember anything from last night. This is exactly what I was afraid of. Oh my God. Did I do something last night?"

"Ruby, all we know for sure is that you broke out and ran through the woods. There's no reason to assume the worst." Charming reassured her before feeling his phone vibrating in his pocket. Quickly, he answered it, "Sheriff. … Yeah. Okay. I'll be right there."

"What is it?" Red asked, fearing the worst.

"Somebody left their car double-parked in front of the cannery. I got to go check it out on our way back into town." Charming explained before noticing that Red was still upset, "Hey. Relax. Everything's going to be okay."

Soon enough, the four made it to the cannery. The car that was double-parked was a tow truck. A tow truck that Red quickly recognized.

"That's Billy's truck." She identified.

"Great." Charming sighed, "Who do I call to tow a tow truck?"

"Ruby, what's wrong?" Kat asked, noticing the disturbed expression on the girl's face.

"I smell blood." She responded, looking around.

"Where's Billy?" Charming wondered out loud, not noticing Granny moving towards the front of the truck.

"Here." Granny called out. Charming and Kat walked over to see Billy half under the truck... as in only the top half of his body was there.

"Holy-" Kat started to say but was interrupted by a huge scream. The three at the front of the truck quickly turned to see Red standing by a dumpster at the other end of the truck, where Billy's legs were sticking out of it.

"It was the wolf!" Red shouted before starting to cry, "It was me!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cait sighed as she sat in one of the many trees in the forest. Honestly, this was the closet place that felt like home in Storybrooke. As she sat in the tree, she mulled over the conversation she had with Kyle the other day while she was drunk.

Unlike many humans who forgot what they did while drunk, she recalled everything in perfect detail, which led her to regret. She hated the fact that she brought up the fact that she once trusted someone before Kyle, she had wanted that to be a secret that she would bring to the grave with her, granted the Dark One knew but he knew many secrets that were not supposed to be known.

She recalled meeting him when she was still rather young and naïve. He was the one who destroyed that innocence. He had used her when she trusted him, leaving her once he had what he wanted. She hated remembering that man; she hated him for what he did to her.

Thankfully, she no longer had to deal with him. She never had to deal with him again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"It had to be something else, Ruby." Charming tried to reassure the poor girl.

"There doesn't seem to be enough blood for it to have been you, Ruby." Kat tried to tell her, though the panicked girl did not seem to hear. Honestly, there didn't seem to be enough blood for him to have been killed there… okay, Kat had watched one to many crime dramas.

"No, I did this!" Red cried out as she looked at Charming, "We both know it."

"No." Charming stated, "A few months ago, everyone thought Mary Margaret was guilty of murder. She needed someone to believe in her. I didn't do that. I am not going to make that mistake with you!"

"Mary Margaret never killed anyone. I have." Red reminded the prince.

"I know who you really are, Ruby, even if you've lost sight of it."

"It doesn't change the fact that I am going to turn again tonight, and somebody else could get hurt."

"Maybe this isn't the best place to have this discussion." Granny told the two. The small group of four looked around, noticing that people had started to gather around them, curious as to what happened.

"It's okay. I'll protect her." Charming reassured the grandmother, not wanting anything to happen to his wife's best friend.

"No! Lock me up." Red told him, "If the freezer couldn't hold me, maybe a jail cell will. I don't need to be protected from people, David. Other people need to be protected from me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kat sighed as she walked in the town. She had wanted to stay to help keep the poor girl calm, but Red insisted that she would fine and told her to head back home. But right now she was so worried about her friend that she knew she wouldn't be anything but a worried wreck. Right now, she needed a distraction.

There were several ways that Kat tended to distract herself in the past. The normal thing she would do would be to practice magic, but after finding out what happened with Jareth; practicing would only anger her than distract her, as she needed. Another would be fencing, but there did not seem to be any fencing schools in town for her to practice in, and she didn't know anyone in town who was into sword play, besides Charming, who was guarding Red, and Henry, who was still a novice.

Perhaps she should go find her brother. Chatting with him tended to distract her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kyle was still sitting in the soccer field. He had decided to watch the clouds, looking at the different shapes they made. For example, the ones he was looking at right now looked like a fish, a bunny and a very well detailed Optimus Prime. Yeah… he was that bored.

This kingdom, /Good riddance, /Good freedom and innocence/ Has brought this whole thing down

Kyle snapped out of his trance and dug through his pocket, eventually digging out his cell phone. He answered it without even looking to see who it was, after all he had customized his ringtones so he knew who was calling.

"Hey, sis, what's up?" Kyle greeted his sister over the phone, "… I'm at the soccer field. … Sure. I don't mind chatting with you. … See you in a bit." After finishing the conversation, he pocketed the mobile and sat up.

Soon enough, Kat ended up at the soccer field, where she saw Kyle sitting in the middle of it. As she walked to the soccer field, she had remembered something, something that she needed to talk to her brother about any ways. She figured she might as well have that conversation now.

"Hey." She greeted once she was close enough, plopping down onto the grass near him.

"Hey, so what's up?" Kyle greeted in response.

"Besides finding out Ruby is a werewolf and might possibly murdered one of the townsfolk last night."

"Damn." Kyle responded, "This town loves possible murders." He wasn't really affected by the fact that Red was a werewolf, but then again he had been in contact with things worse than a werewolf since he was five. "Did they find the body this time?"

"Yeah." Kat nodded, "Half of him was under the front of his truck, the other half was in the dumpster behind the trunk."

"Only split in half. Wouldn't a wolf make more of a mess?" Kyle questioned.

"I thought the same, especially since there was little to no blood."

"…" Kyle raised an eyebrow at that, "How the fu-"

"Language." The brunette half-heartedly reprimanded.

"How on Earth did they come to the conclusion that a werewolf did it if the guy was ripped in half and little to no blood?"

"Ruby was scared as the wolf had apparently killed someone before." Kat said, recalling how Ruby had told her about how she found out about the wolf before Charming locked her up in the cell. "And since she doesn't recall what happened last night, she immediately jumped to that conclusion."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, it does." Kat nodded, "Though I'm still confused about how cleanly the guy was cut in half. I mean, even if he was unconscious for it, it shouldn't have been such a clean cut."

"Maybe it was a Jedi knight." Kyle joked, causing his sister to chuckle.

"Nah, the wound was not cauterized." Kat responded jokingly, causing another round of laughter between the siblings.

"Think we watch too much crime dramas?" Kyle asked once they stopped laughing.

"Probably." Kat responded before sighing and moving so she was lying on her back.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, just relaxing. Eventually, Kat decided she might as well talk to him about what she was thinking about.

"Hey, Kyle?"

"Yeah?"

"I need to talk to you about school."

"Sis." Kyle groaned out as Kat sat up.

"Kyle, it's been 2 months since we came here. You need to get your ass back in class."

"But I don't want to leave town." Kyle responded. He truly didn't, he liked this place much better than New York, plus he would be able to see his sister, who he knew would stay here with her family.

"Then what do you propose?"

"I transfer here." Kyle suggested.

"You want to transfer during your senior year?"

"Not like I'm really friends with anyone I have class with currently." Kyle responded dryly.

"Are you sure?" Kat sighed, recalling when she had transferred from her old high school to the one she graduated from, "You realize your class schedule will be completely different as this is a public school."

"Yes, I'm sure." Kyle snapped. He didn't mind working with a different schedule, or even being the new kid in class. He just wanted to stay in town.

"Fine. I'll call up Uncle Tobi about that." Kat sighed, "It will probably take at least a week for the paper work to go through."

"I don't mind." Kyle shrugged, he didn't mind waiting that long to go back to school.

"And I don't think I need to tell you that you probably have a lot of work to make up." Kat told him.

"Yeah, but it probably won't be too hard."

"Plus the fact that whoever your classmates are have twenty-eight years more experience in the class over you." Kat said, half serious.

"Meh." Kyle smirked, finding some humor in his sister's comment, "So can I transfer?"

"Let me call Uncle Tobi." Kat told him as she dug out her cell phone. It was switched to the contact list the moment she moved it in front of her. Looks like both of the Willis siblings were staying in Storybrooke.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After an hour or so long phone call, the siblings headed back to their new home. Their uncle had approved of the idea that Kyle came up with and was going to contact the high school back in New York for them, so all they needed to do was get the paperwork for the high school in town and fill it out.

When they got back home, Kat immediately dug out her laptop and a potable printer that she had tucked in her bag. She went and opened an email her uncle had sent her, with the papers they needed to fill out and printed them. Once she filled them out, forging her uncle's signature where necessary, the two separated, Kyle going to his room to hang out, and Kat searching the place for her husband.

She eventually found him in one of the many rooms filled with hats, something he told her was from his time in Wonderland. To her utter amusement, he was looking through a telescope.

"You do realize that's spying right?" Kat joked, causing her husband to jump slightly, having not expected her to be there.

"Kat, when did you get home?" Jefferson asked flustered at being caught.

"A while ago." Kat smiled, walking over to him, "So what were you looking at?"

She heard him cough as she bent down to look into the telescope that he was previously looking through. To her surprise, he actually was spying, the telescope was pointing at Grace's classroom. She glanced up at him to see him shifting nervously.

"Old habits die hard." He told her as she straightened up.

"From when Grace was with our neighbors?" Kat asked, though she knew that was probably when he developed that habit.

"Yeah…" He muttered, looking away. He felt guilty that he still spied on his daughter like this … but he needed to make sure that she was safe and that … that this wasn't just some sick dream he was torturing himself with.

"Hey." He heard Kat call out, but didn't look at her until he felt her hand gently touch his cheek, making him look at her, "She's fine now, she's with you. I'm with you. You don't need to worry so much anymore."

Jefferson smiled down at her, comforted by her words. "Thank you." He told her, grateful for her putting up with him and telling him what he needed to hear.

"You don't need to thank me for anything." Kat shook her head, not understanding why he said that. She then used the hand she still had on his cheek to guide him down to where her head was, capturing his lips with her own once he was close enough.

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Later that night, when Jefferson and Kat were embracing each other in bed, enjoying the afterglow of events that had just taken place, neither had noticed nor heard the joyful howling that came from far into the woods that surrounded the home.

So yeah, had to go out and buy a new charger at an apple store due to impatience and the fact that I had a project due basically Sunday night. I also have something else to say... I'm kinda loosing interest in writing at the moment, mostly because my current class and I'm thinking more about my Doctor Who fics that I plan on posting once I finish this story. Now, that is not to say that I will be giving up on this story, not at all, but... if needed I might need to put it on a short hiatus to finish up the chapters. I have a total of 42 chapters planned out for this fic, so far as it stops with the season 2 finale, and I am currently writing out chapter 32, which I have for several weeks. Hopefully, once I get the chance to watch Sunday episode of OUAT, as I was busy working on my class project that night, I'll get inspired to write for this fic again, if not, there might be a small hiatus. Sorry about the long note, but I figured I'd let you guys know in advance that there might be a slight delay in this story in a few weeks.

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. It is quite possible for them to make inedible cookies. My one friend, half the things she makes end up inedible or make you as sick as Kyle was in the previous chapter. It also doesn't help that Kat is not that good of a cook, or baker.

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated.