New Beginnings: Chapter One

Author's Note: I know I probably shouldn't be putting out another story, considering that I have yet to finish the other ones but this idea will not leave me alone. I'm thinking that this will just be a one-shot. Please let me know if you think I should continue. So, here is a little bit of background information:

Cora and Hook never made it to the Land Without Magic. Greg Mendel, however, did manage to find Storybrook, bringing Tamara with him. Rumpelstiltskin, Emma, and Henry didn't go to Manhattan looking for Baelfire. Before Rumpelstiltskin could call in his favor, Greg and Tamara kidnapped Henry, taking him to Neverland. The Neverland Arc occurred roughly the same way, except Rumple doesn't know that Henry is his grandson and was just helping him because he believes that Emma will not help him if he were to let Henry disappear and/or get killed.

Pan still made it to Storybrook and casted his curse. Rumple still stopped him but didn't kill himself in the process. Regina managed to counteract her curse, sending all of the occupants of Storybrook back to the Enchanted Forest. All but one. And that is where this story picks up. So far, I really don't have a ship I am going for in this story, other than Rumbelle and Snowing. I hope you enjoy. Let me know you thoughts in the comment section.

Henry couldn't remember the last time he had felt this alone. Sure, he had little spells of loneliness while he was growing up, considering that he was an only child. He thought he was alone for the majority of a year, right before he found out about the curse. He thought he knew what loneliness was, having been given up for adoption and growing up as the only child to age in all of Storybrook.

It was nothing compared to the loneliness he was feeling at the current moment. Henry felt as though someone had reached inside of him and ripped out his heart, leaving a gaping hole in his chest. Literally, in the blink of an eye, everyone he ever cared about was gone, taken back to their world just as was intended when the curse broke. Henry just always imaged going with them and being able to see the world he had only read about in his Storybook.

He never imagined, however, that he would be sitting in the middle of a social care office in New York City, waiting for the social workers to decide if he needed to go to foster care or if they should try to see if anyone would adopt him. People whispered as they walked around, continuing their work. None of them paid Henry any attention.

None of them noticed the tears that cascaded down the young boy's face, landing without a sound on the cover of an old leather book. Henry sniffed, wiping at his eyes with his sleeve, frustrated for letting himself cry in front of people he didn't even know. He had already spent a year bouncing to different houses, each worse than the one before. He was slowly beginning to lose hope of anyone coming to get him and take him home.

"-never seen a case like this one before," he heard a woman say, her voice slowly voice slowly becoming louder as she walked down the hall, heading in Henry's direction.

"And you are absolutely sure he has no record," the man that was accompanying her stated.

"Oh, he has a record. Not the kind you're thinking of. We have his birth certificate, showing where he was born but his mother and father aren't listed. It's as if he was born out of thin air."

"No records at all?" the man asked as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his dress pants.

The woman, a pretty red head wearing a gray pinstriped suit and a light pink blouse, shook her head. "None. His records say that his birth mother gave him up for adoption but we don't have anything on his adopted mother, just that she was supposed to be the mayor of a town that doesn't even exist."

The two stopped just about ten feet from Henry and he knew they were talking about him. The man frowned and ran a hand through his dark hair. He wasn't the type of person Henry expected to be walking around in a government facility. Sure, he was wearing the right attire of a business suit and nice bottom down white shirt, but his jacket was tucked under his arm and his tie was hanging loose around his neck. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows in a hurried mess, as if he was worried that people might actually take him seriously because he was dressed so nicely. Henry couldn't see his face, since his head was turned while talking to the red-headed woman.

"So why not call this in?" he questioned. "Why call me?"

The woman pressed her lips. "I don't want this kid to end up in the system," she said so quietly that Henry almost didn't hear her. "He's been through enough, it seems. Our main theory is that he was abandoned."

"Wasn't he found in the woods in Maine?" the man asked as he leaned against the wall.

The woman nodded. "We are thinking that whoever left him, dropped him off in the woods. We are not sure why they did so but. . ."

"What?" the man asked as she trailed off.

She bit her lip. "When we asked him why he was in the forest, he said that the town was taken back to where it came from and he couldn't go because he was born here."

The man frowned and stole a glance over at Henry, who quickly looked down, not wanting the two to move their conversation elsewhere. He bit his lip, mentally berating himself for letting that slip when the police had found him. He was still in shock when they had found him.

Henry heard the man sigh and dared to look back over. Luckily he had turned his attention back to the woman.

"But why me?" the man asked. "I'm pretty sure there are other people out there who could take him in. Why me?"

The woman cracked a smile. "Because you can relate to him. You've been left behind by a parent and you know all of the emotions that he must be going though. I think it will help him, and you, if there is someone with shared experiences to talk to."

Ok, now Henry's curiosity was peaked.

The man sighed again, heavily this time. The woman smiled before continuing. "Plus, you have one of the most thorough Master's Degrees in Childhood Psychology, Sociology, and Psychotherapy than anyone else in this building, as well as personal experience to draw from."

"What about his birth father?"

The woman pressed her lips before she shook her head. "Since we don't have anything on his birthmother, we have very little in way to contact his father."

"He was a fireman," Henry replied before he could stop himself.

The pair turned their attention to Henry and he got his first good look at the man. He was very scruffy looking but not in a bad way. His hair was messy and his face had stubble but it just gave him an overall warm appearance. His eyes were a dark, earthy brown that reminded Henry of someone, but he just couldn't place his finger on who. The man grinned suddenly, easy-going and open.

"You know, it's rude to eavesdrop," he said as he made his way over to Henry, the red-head right on his heels.

"It's also rude to talk about people when they can clearly hear you," Henry replied with just as much sass.

The man's grin got even larger, if possible. He held his hand out for Henry to take. "Name's Neal Cassidy. What's yours?"

Henry took the man's hand and gave it a shake. "Henry Mills."

"Nice to meet you, Henry," Neal answered. He glanced back at the woman and motioned her forward. "This is Julia, my coworker. She is also your social worker."

"Hello, Henry," she replied as she shook Henry's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

Henry gave them both a small smile. "So," he began. "Do you always talk about your charges where they can hear you? Or am I just a special case?"

Neal laughed out right as Julia shook her head in amusement. Neal recovered quickly. "Nope just you kid. Of course, the whole thing was planned for you to hear anyways."

Henry blinked in shock. "What?"

Julia pointed to Neal. "It was his idea."

Neal shrugged. "I figured that if you heard what we were discussing, you wouldn't have to worry about whether or not we were actually talking about you. I know I used to always worry about people talking bad about me. Figure if you heard us trying to do something for you instead of just gossiping, you might open up a little more.

Henry grinned in spite of himself. He was really starting to like this guy. He had an air about him that said he didn't care what other's thought and wasn't afraid to speak his mind.

"So," Neal commented, drawing the 'o' out for a moment. "What was that about your dad?"

Henry smiled a little. "He was a firefighter. My mom—birth mom—said the two of them meet when she worked as a waitress in Phoenix, Arizona. He died while saving a family from a burning building."

"Well, crap," Neal muttered. "That's a dead end." He then pulled a face. "Inappropriate pun not intended."

Henry just shrugged. "It's ok. I'm at peace with it." He paused for a moment. "Are you my social worker too?"

Neal looked a little thrown by the question before he shook his head.

Henry frowned. "Then why are you asking Julia about my case?"

Neal gave Henry a sheepish look. "That's something we should actually talk about in Julia's office."

Henry frowned again but followed the two adults nonetheless. They walked a little bit before taking the elevator up to the top floor. As the doors slide open, Henry gapped at the size of the room.

"I thought you said office! Not floor!" he cried as he walked out of the elevator.

Julia's 'office' literally took up the whole top floor of the building, giving the social worker a panoramic view of the New York skyline. The desk in the middle of the room had a very modern feel of white wood and different curves and lines. Julia simple laughed.

"Being the owner of this agency certainly has its perks," she replied as she took a seat behind the desk and motioned for Neal and Henry to sit in the chairs in front of her. Henry happily obliged.

"Now," Julia began as she rested her elbows on the desk and placed her chin atop her laced fingers. "The reason I have informed Neal of your case is because of two things. One," she held up a finger, "is because of the similarities between your case and Neal's past."

Henry gave the woman a questioning look. He looked over at Neal, whose face was scrunched up in discomfort. Neal turned slightly, facing Henry while still looking at Julia.

"My father abandoned me," Neal replied softly.

"My mom didn't abandon me," Henry argued fiercely.

Henry expected Neal to look at least a little annoyed at being interrupted but, as Henry searched Neal's face, the only emotion he picked up on was apathy.

"I'm not saying she left you because she wanted to. Things happen, even when we don't want them too," Neal explained calmly. "She may not have wanted to leave you but she still did."

Henry's anger deflated quickly. "Did your father abandon you because he wanted to?"

Neal shook his head. "No. I basically gave him an ultimatum and he left me in a forest. He just let me go. And it wasn't because he wanted to. He got too attached to the power he had just received and didn't want to let it go."

"Did you ever try to get back to him?" Henry asked quietly. Something about Neal's story sounded extremely familiar.

"Of course," he replied shortly. He quickly motioned to Julia for her to continue.

Julia held up a second finger. "The second reason is because of a proposal we have for you."

Henry frowned. "What kind of proposal?"

"One that will get you out of the foster system," Neal answered.

Henry perked up instantly. "I'm all ears."

Neal took a deep breath. "How would you feel if I told you I wanted to adopt you?"

Henry blinked, really not expect that. "I would say 'why me'?"

Neal grinned. "Because you reminded me a lot about myself, especially how similar our situations are. We," he gestured between himself and Julia, "believe that if I were to adopt you, then we could help each other. I'm sure you heard that from the hallway. Another thing is that I have three different Master's Degrees that I am really don't have anything to do with," he replied in a teasing tone. "All jokes aside, I want to help you because I know how it is to be alone in a strange, new place without a parent or familiar person around. And I've always wanted a family."

Henry blinked, tears suddenly coming to his eyes. For the past year, all of the foster homes he had been too had treated him as if he was just a part of a big group, a child that would eventually get passed into another family for them to deal with. It had been over a year since someone had outright said they wanted him to be a part of a family.

"Of course, the entire thing is up to you," Neal said softly.

"Isn't this kind of sudden?" Henry asked as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Don't you want to think about this more?"

"Nah," Neal said with a wave. "I'm all about split second decisions." His grin told Henry that wasn't the case. "I've actually been thinking about this for a while now, ever since Julia got your case about six months ago."

Henry blinked. "That long?"

Neal nodded. "It's taken that long to get all of the paperwork set up. We went ahead and got everything ready, just in case you said yes. That way we could get you out of the system as soon as possible. But, again, it is entirely your choice."

Henry sat there stunned for a moment. The tears were falling freely now. Neal frowned and reached over, gently wiping them away. Henry leaned his head over into his hand almost subconsciously. He quickly nodded.

"Yes," Henry replied quietly. "I'd like to come live with you."

Neal grinned brightly. "Great. You are going to love your room, by the way."

Henry gave a watery laugh. "You weren't even sure I would say yes and you already had a room ready?"

Neal nodded. "Again, I've been where you are now. I would have loved to have had someone take me in." He smiled sadly for a moment. "Well, I would have loved for someone to have taken me in again."

"Again?" Henry echoed.

Neal gave him a sad smile. "A family took me in for a few months. Something happened and we got separated."

Henry frowned. "Did you try to find them again?"

Neal nodded. "I did. But it was too late. They had already passed on."

Henry flinched. "I didn't mean to bring up a bad subject."

Neal simply shook his head. "It's okay. You didn't know."

Henry just smiled. "So. What do I call you?"

Neal grinned. "You can call me anything you like. As long as it isn't anything hurtful," he added the last part with a grin.

Henry returned it easily. Maybe things were looking up.

The idea of Neal becoming a social worker has always been a headcannon for me. I've always liked the idea of him using his own experience to help others, especially if that other person in Henry. And one last note, Neal does not know that Henry is his son. The last time he saw Emma was before Henry was born. Please Read and Review.