Author's Note: I have no clue if this is goi beyond the first chapter. It was just an idea inspired by a back-and-forth with no_nutcracker, which is why I've gifted them this. I hope you enjoy it!

Also, for those only familiar with one of these fandoms, if you get confused and have questions, please ask. I'm happy to clarify things. Also, comments, in general, are appreciated.

I played a little with the Revenge timeline because her and Daniel's engagement party was Sept 5th, 2011, but Emma Swan was born on October 22nd, and I needed some of the events of Revenge to not have happened by a few weeks before her birthday. I have my reasons for Henry showing up a little early too.

That's What Friends Are For

Henry Mills looked up at the beach house before him. It really wasn't what he had been expecting. Then again, he hadn't known what to expect. Something heroic, maybe? Like a castle?

No, that wasn't it. Henry's own home wasn't unlike a castle. Oh, the architecture was wrong for sure, but it still looked like the home of someone with money. His mother, the Evil Queen, had lots of money. She used it to keep him locked up. A princess in a tower could be as much a prisoner as anyone. In any case, Emma wouldn't know she was a princess.

Henry supposed he had been expecting the opposite of his mom. Someone with nothing? Someone who was a hero? Someone who would have given up a kid, because she couldn't keep him.

After all, people didn't give up kids, if they could keep them. Emma must have had a reason. She must have thought he'd be better off. And if she thought he'd be better off with Regina, her circumstances couldn't have been great at the time. Except he was looking at a pretty nice beach house. It had a swing and everything. He was tempted to hop up on it, but he was here on a mission.

He rang the bell and waited. A couple of seconds passed, and then a woman with unbelievably blond curls came to the door. She was wearing a fancy dress. It was a little like something his mom would wear, but different somehow. Maybe it was like something his mom would have worn if she were ten years younger.

The woman looked at him, her face kind and curious. "Hello?"

"Are you Emma Swan?"

"Yes. Can I help you?"

Yes! This was her! This was the Savior! This was his mom! His real mom! He'd done it! He'd found her! He'd found Emma and now … Now he had a mom.

"My name's Henry. I'm your son."

Emma stared at the boy in front of her, sizing him up. Her son? He couldn't be more than ten, maybe eleven. She did the math in her head. Of course. She should have anticipated this.

It had been an ordinary night before he had knocked on her door. She had no schemes planned. She and Daniel had simply been cuddling on the couch. He was gently bugging her about her upcoming birthday, despite the fact that she told him she didn't want to celebrate, even though she could not tell him the real reason why.

As she stared at Henry, trying to figure out what to do, Daniel came up behind her.

"Who's at the door?"

"Is this my dad?" Henry asked, his eyes lighting up.

"I'm sorry, am I what?"

Not good. This was not good. She couldn't afford to have Daniel get scared away by something like this. She also couldn't leave this poor boy shivering on her porch. She needed to think quickly.

"Henry, was it?" she asked, offering him a gentle smile. "Why don't you come inside? It's freezing out there."

Henry obliged. Meanwhile, Daniel followed them into the house, his tone less than happy. "Emma, who is this?"

"I'm her son. And maybe yours."

"You're not his," Emma said, quickly.

"You have a son?" Daniel asked, turning on Emma. Not good. Not good at all. He sounded hurt, and a little angry. She couldn't deal with both of them at once.

"Daniel, I need a minute."

"A minute? Your kid shows up at your door, and you need a minute?"

"Daniel — "

"How did I not know this? How could you not tell me?"

Emma shook her head for a minute, then walked over to Henry. "Where do you live, Henry?"

"Wow! We got there quick. I mean, I didn't get here quick. I had to take a plane, which I've never done before. But we can book some return tickets —"

"I think we're getting ahead of ourselves. This is a lot, and my head is spinning. So, before we go on a trip or anything, I'm going to need you to answer a few questions for me. Can you do that?"

Henry shrugged. "Maybe. Depends on the questions."

"When you say you're my son, I think I know what you mean. But I'd appreciate it if you could explain."

Henry smiled. "Ten years ago, did you give up a kid for adoption?" Emma nodded. So she had been right. Daniel muttered something that sounded like a curse. "That was me."

"I suspected as much," Emma said. "And you came a long way to find me?"

"Yeah. All the way from Storybrooke, Maine."

"Where are your parents? Did they come with you?"

"It's just my mom and … she doesn't know I'm here," Henry said, his voice getting smaller.

"Maybe you and I should call her. She must be worried sick about you."

"No. She'll pretend to be, but … Anyway, she leaves me alone all the time. She figures nobody would hurt me because they're all scared of her." He didn't sound scared, more like resigned.

An alarm went off in Emma's head. This boy might or might not be her son, but he sounded like he also might be in trouble. It wasn't her style to just let something like that be.

Emma was quiet for a minute. Then she smiled. "You must be hungry. What are you in the mood for?"

He looked up at her, his eyes big, "I was going to look for some juice."

"I can get you some juice. And maybe something to eat?"

"Sure. Can you make grilled cheese?"

Emma nodded. "As a matter of fact, I can. Why don't I fix you some while you watch some TV?" She set Henry up in front of the television set and headed to the kitchen, keeping the boy in her sight.

Daniel followed as she'd known he would. For all of tonight's unpredictability, she knew Daniel's patterns well enough by now. "So," he said, "are we going to talk about this, or …?

"Of course. But first I have to figure out what he needs."

"What do you mean?"

"He ran away from home and took a plane by himself from Maine to the Hamptons. If he did that …"

Daniel crinkled up his brows. "You think he's in some kind of trouble?"

"You know my background, Daniel. I know better than most that adoption doesn't always mean a stable, safe home. I had hoped for better for him, but …"

"Yeah, about that. How come you never told me? Because you having a kid, I can handle, but you keeping things from me? Not so much."

"I wasn't keeping it from you, Daniel. Henry was born back when I was in juvie."

Daniel was quiet for a minute. "Oh. I see. So, the guy with the watches?"

"Exactly. I've gone to great lengths to separate myself from that time in my life. And as for Henry, I haven't thought about him since I gave him up. I couldn't. It was too painful. I had to believe I did the right thing when I gave him up, and I had to not look back. I wasn't keeping anything from you; I was keeping something from me."

Daniel nodded. "I get it."

"Why don't you go out for a jog? Clear your head."

"Are you kicking me out?" His tone was teasing, and Emma breathed a sigh of relief. She was back on solid ground, back in control.

"I need time alone with him. I need to figure out what's wrong, why he ran away. Then, I promise, you and I will talk about this. But if I can help him … I owe it to him to try."

"Okay. Guess I'll go out." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and headed for the back door.

"Here's your grilled cheese," Emma said, setting the plate in front of Henry and pausing the screen.

"Thanks. You know, I've never seen a TV like this. All the ones back home are big boxes." He took a bite of the grilled cheese.

"How is it?" Emma asked.

Henry smiled. "It's great. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Does your mom make grilled cheese for you?"

"She likes to make lasagna a lot. I'm kind of tired of it."

"What do you eat when she leaves you on your own?"

"She leaves stuff, sometimes. Otherwise, I figure it out. I go to Granny's a lot."

"Your grandmother lives near you?"

"No. It's a diner. It's run by Granny Lucas, or at least that's what everyone calls her."

"Is Granny Lucas friendly with your mom?"

"My mom isn't really friendly with anyone. Maybe Sheriff Graham."

Law enforcement. Well, that was hardly surprising, "Henry, I need you to be honest with me. Can you do that?"

Henry met her eyes. "It depends on the question."

"Has your mom ever hurt you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Has she hit you? Or knocked you over? Anything like that?"

Henry seemed to think about it. "No. I mean, she hurts people, but I don't think she'd hurt me that way."

"You said everybody was scared of her. Why?"

"Because she's evil! And I know you probably won't believe me, because nobody ever does, but it's true! I swear! I am being honest!"

"I believe you."

"You do?"

"Yes. I've known some evil people too. Henry, what has your mother done to you? What made you run away?"

"Why I ran away is a long story. We'll get there when you're ready. And anyway, I didn't run away. I ran to you." He gave her a small smile, and Emma knew that if he were her son, her heart would melt. After a pause, he said, "But as for what she's done to me … she thinks I'm crazy. Or she wants me to think I'm crazy. I knew she was evil, that she had done things, bad things. That she'd hurt people, was still hurting people, and she sent me to this therapist. And I like Archie, my therapist, but I'm not crazy. She is evil, and she's cursed everyone, and nobody believes me. And she knows that I'm right. That's why she has me see Archie. Because if he can convince me I'm crazy … "

Henry had tears in his eyes. Emma reached out and stroked his hair. "Why don't you stay here for the night? We can talk more in the morning."

"We have to get back to Storybrooke. We have to stop her!"

"We will. But we don't have to go right now. You've had a long day, and you could probably use some sleep. Let me fix you a room, okay?"

Henry nodded. Then he picked up the book Emma hadn't noticed he was carrying before and followed her to one of the spare rooms.

Daniel had a lot on his mind. A lot. He had shared so much with Emma. His heart, his mind, not to mention his body. He had told her things he had never told anyone. When he'd learned about her time at Allenwood, he'd thought he knew everything there was to know. He'd thought it meant she trusted him. Maybe he'd just been kidding himself.

Somehow, he found himself at The Stowaway. He slunk to the bar, waiting for Porter to notice him.

"Grayson," Jack greeted him. "The usual?"

Daniel nodded. "And make it a double."

"Long night?" Jack asked, pouring him a drink. Daniel nodded. "Everything okay? Is Emma all right?"

Daniel nodded again. "She's fine. She, uh, had a visitor. We both did. But I guess he was there to see her, not me, so she did."

"Don't tell me. Some ex? Or some new bastard who didn't know she was off the market?"

Daniel laughed. "I wish. That I'd know how to handle. But some kid she gave up for adoption a decade ago? What am I supposed to do with that?"

There was a crashing sound behind the bar. Jack and Daniel both looked over at the noise. Amanda, Jack's girlfriend, had been cleaning glasses and appeared to have dropped one.

"You okay?" Jack asked.

She didn't answer at first. "Yeah. No. I'm … I'm fine."

"You look a little pale," Jack said, reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder. She stepped out of his reach.

"I'm just a little … Air. I need some air. I'm going to take a … a walk. Maybe I'll take Sammy."

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever you need."

She grabbed the dog's collar and headed out the door.

She really had thought she was just getting air. That was what she told herself. But before she knew it, she was running up to the beach house, nearly outpacing Sammy. Of course, Sammy got there first. He always did.

Emma came to the door and started to pat her old dog down.

Amanda skidded to a stop in front of them. She felt like she might heave. She shouldn't be here. She knew she shouldn't be here. But she needed to know.

"Is he here?" She blurted out.

Emma looked up at her. There was confusion in her eyes for a moment, then clarity, "Daniel. He went to the Stowaway. To drink away his insecurities."

"Yeah. Got a real problem, that boyfriend of yours," Amanda said. Words. They were just words, rushing out of her mouth. She couldn't think. She couldn't breathe. She needed to know. "Is he here?"

"He's here. He's upstairs, sleeping."

"Why is he ... how … Is he okay?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out," Emma said. Sometimes, Amanda really hated how calm Emma could be. She respected it. She got why. But god, was it maddening sometimes.

"Why did he show up? How did he show up? It was a closed adoption."

"I remember."

"Why is he here?"

"I think he's … in a bad situation. He was looking for you." She couldn't face him. She knew she couldn't face him. And yet … "He thinks he was looking for me. You know he needs to keep thinking that, right?"

"Of course. Of course, I know that. It's not like I would even have the slightest clue how to deal with this anyway. It's not like I'm just going to go up there and tell him … tell him everything. I just … What's his name?"

"Henry. I don't know his last name yet, but I have Nolan looking into it."

Amanda scoffed at the mention of Nolan, "So he knows."

"Yes. He knows. And now Daniel thinks I gave a kid up for adoption ten years ago."

Right. Shit. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. Don't forget, I was right there with you through all of it. The whole pregnancy. I supported your choice to give him up. I still do. You did what you had to, and you don't owe anyone an apology."

"But you don't know that he's okay?"

"His mother … I don't know the details, but it sounds like she might not be the best person."

"Like Victoria?"

"I don't know. Again, Nolan's looking into it, and I'll see what else I can learn from Henry tomorrow."

"Is he … sticking around?"

"For a little bit. Just until I can figure out what to do. He wants his birth mother to come back to his hometown with him. We both know I can't do that. My work here isn't done. But I'm not just going to send him back to a dangerous situation either."

"So I might … I could meet him?"

"You know you can't - "

"I wouldn't tell him who I was. I wouldn't do that to you. Or to me. I wouldn't know the first thing to say to him as the woman who gave birth to him and then abandoned him. If I were still Emma Swan, I would run the other way as fast and far as I could. But I'm not. I'm Emma Swan's friend. And maybe … you're not the only one who wants to know that he's okay."

Amanda felt Emma pull her close and wrap her in her arms. She felt herself shake, and then she felt herself sob. Normally, she wouldn't let anyone see her sob. But Emma was different.

There had been night in juvie when she was still Emma and Emma was still Amanda, when she had been huge and sad and alone, and the girl who had then been Amanda had held her just like this. She had promised to support her, whether she kept the baby, whether she gave him up, no matter what. She had been there through all of it. And when she had returned to their shared cell after labor, Amanda had stroked her hair and promised it would all be okay.

"I'll call you in the morning with any new information. Are you okay to get back to the Stowaway by yourself? You can spend the night in the pool house if you like."

Amanda nodded, "Yeah. No. I'll be fine. I need some distance from this, some time to prepare myself. And Jack'll be worried."

She grabbed Sammy's collar and started to head back in the other direction, "Tell him … Tell him that I, I mean you, that you wanted him to have his best chance at a good life. If he asks why I mean. Tell him that's why."

"I will."