Guest: thanks! I hope you stick around and continue to like it. I'm going to change up something about the way I rewrite the episodes next chapter.

Paulaa90: That would certainly make believing in the curse easier. I don't know if would help with her abandonment issues though.

Graham will be suspicious and suspect that August is related to the curse somehow but he won't know who he is. There's a lot that he'd have to know to make the connection and even if he had met August before.

Jennifer Baratta: thanks!

Libra Black: thanks for the fave.

Special thanks to arianakristine for all the help she gave me with this story!

Emma was eating cereal, she joined Lacey at the table. The weather forecast played on the TV.

"Top of the morning," said the man on the TV, "this is chief meteorologist Bill Gozen with your up-to-the-minute Storybrooke weather. Well, break out those galoshes, folks, it's gonna get soggy. We've got a major storm system moving down the coast. The latest Doppler shows the worst band of precipitation moving is into Storybrooke right about the time you're putting the kids to..."

"Maybe I'll keep the library closed today. Get ahead of the storm." Lacey took a sip of her coffee and sighed. "No one reads anymore anyway."

"Maybe you need to advertise."

Lacey hummed. "There's a thought." Her face slipped into a worried frown. "We should get supplies. And I have to check on my father."

Henry entered Granny's and saw Graham sitting at the counter with a plate in front of him as Ruby poured him a cup of coffee. Henry made his way over to him.

"Thanks Ruby," Graham said. Henry took the stool next to Graham. Graham looked over at him.

"Henry, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be at school."

"I was on my way." He swung his legs back and fourth. "Could you could walk me?"

Graham smiled even though he had the feeling that he should be reprimanding. "Of course I could." He half expected Regina to show up and pull Henry away.

Graham shovelled the last of his bacon into his mouth and drank his coffee. He said to Ruby, "Can I have a check?"

Ruby gave a knowing smile as she looked at the two of them. "Sure." She walked away. Graham wondered what Ruby was thinking.

When Ruby came back with his check Graham held up his coffee mug and Ruby filled it. "Thanks," he said. Graham got out his wallet. Henry hopped down from his stool. After Graham had paid his bill and given Ruby a tip they headed out.

"Did you hear about the stranger?" Henry asked as they walked away from Granny's.

"Yeah. What do you think of him?" Ruby had told him about the new comer. He didn't know what to think of him just yet and that made him wary.

"I talked to him today. He was fixing his bike outside my house."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing much. He did say that he needed the box he carries around for something he needs to do in Storybrooke. It has to be important if he's being so secretive about it, doesn't it?"

"I think he has to have something to do with the curse. The only past new comers are you and Emma. You were brought here by Regina who cast the curse and you brought Emma here to end it."

"He isn't in the book. I was hoping that you knew who he is."

"I haven't seen met him yet." He took a sip of his coffee and frowned. "But I don't have my memories back fully so even if I knew him before I doubt that I'll recognise him now."

"Oh." Henry slumped his shoulders and looked on the ground. But then his face lit up before Graham could think of something comforting to say. He looked up at Graham. "Maybe you need to kiss Emma again. Maybe she needs to kiss more people and they'll regain their memories."

"I don't think it works like that and there's no way she could be convinced to kiss the entire town. She wouldn't just kiss Moe French, I don't think they've even met." Henry looked disappointed again. With a wink and a nudge to cheer Henry up Graham added "I don't think Leroy is her type." Henry smiled and wrinkled his nose. Graham felt sorry that this discussion couldn't be all jokes. Henry was taking on too much for a ten year old, too much for anyone really. "We don't even know that everyone in town has a connection to Emma."

Henry shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"Can I see the book sometime?"

Henry lit up. "I hid it but I can show you where it is."

"You have school. We'll go see it after the storm passes."

On his way back from the school Graham called Emma. "It's Graham. It's about Henry."

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine. The new guy in town was outside of his house today. I'm worried that he might have an interest in Henry."

"You saw him there?"

"No. Henry told me when I walked him to school. He didn't threaten Henry or anything. I just think you should be on the lookout just in case. He did tell Henry that his box was for a purpose he had in Storybrooke."

"What purpose?"

Graham shrugged even though Emma couldn't see him. "He didn't say." He wished that he could tell her that he suspected the man had something to do with the curse.

"You think he's up to something? Like what?"

"I don't know." It was partly true. Even if he turned out to be right about August being connected to the curse he didn't know how it was possible.

"I'll let you know if I hear anything."

"Thanks. You know our tourist business has really been booming since you came here."

Emma cracked a smile despite herself. "I'm happy to help."

Emma was at the pharmacy getting supplies for the upcoming storm. The weather played on a small TV. "We've got nasty footage coming in from the mid-Atlantic..."

Emma walked into Kathryn, who was shopping with Regina. Both Emma and Kathryn dropped their baskets. "I'm sorry!" Emma exclaimed.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Both bent down to pick up the spilled items.

"I wasn't looking."

"Clearly," Regina said. Emma looked up at her and frowned.

Kathryn picked up a candy bar and handed it to her. "Is this yours?"

Emma took it. "Yes, thank you." She picked up an item. "Oh, this must..." It was a pregnancy test. There was no mistaking it. "Good luck."

"Thank you." Kathryn got up and walked away while Emma continued to stare after her. She couldn't help herself. The only reason that she could think of that this would throw her so hard was that she must be feeling protective of David. She had saved his life after all.

"I trust you'll be discreet." Emma looked up at her, still stunned and unsure of what to say in reply. "Their lives are their business, not yours." Regina walked away.

Lacey walked towards a flower shop. The building was encompassed in a canopy of ivy, it had grown over the side of and under the green roof that was under the sign and the ivy hanged over the windows giving the shop a wild look. The roof was yellowed around the edges when before her mother died her father had diligently cleaned it every day along with keeping the ivy back. The shop had fallen to the wayside after her mother died and her father often said that he was too old and frail to constantly work on the maintenance of the outside. Now the only part that was cleared of ivy was the shop sign which read Games of Thorns. She couldn't remember if the name had always been a literacy pun or if he had named the shop that for other reasons.

Some of the containers of flowers that were always outside were gone and the door was wide open. She didn't see the van parked outside like it usually was. Lacey's father, Moe French stepped outside. He smiled when he saw her.

"Lacey, I wasn't expecting you."

"I just thought I'd check on you. Maybe lend a hand."

He waved her off. "I'm fine. I got all hands on deck, they're just in the back right now. And I already put the van away."

"Do you need anything? I'm getting some supplies."

"I've got enough canned food to last the entire month." He took down a hanging pot of flowers. "Your old man can still take care of himself."

"I'll be going then. We should catch up sometime." She always felt guilty when she visited her father, she wanted to help him but he was too proud to let her.

"Pop by the shop during lunch sometime. We'll go to Granny's."

"See you soon, dad. If you need anything, anything at all I'm just a call away."

"You worry too much, just like your mom." He walked back inside with the flowers.

She would have driven to the flower shop but she had felt like taking a walk while it was still sunny, although she bundled into her coat as the wind picked up. Lacey was walking back to her apartment building to get her car when she heard cooing. She walked off the road and headed towards the sound and discovered a dove caught in a net.

"How did this happen?" She picked up the dove carefully. "Come on. It's going to be okay." She sprinted into a run towards her car. Once at her car, she fumbled with unlocking the car door. She put the dove on the dashboard when she into the car. She threw her purse at the floor and took a look at the dove while she settled into her seat. The dove seemed no worse for wear, it blinked at her. She buckled her seat belt and put the dove in her lap so she could hold it steady as she drove.

The road was surprisingly empty as Lacey drove to the pet shelter, not there was ever much traffic in Storybrooke but she expected more commotion with the storm coming.

At the pet shelter Dr. Thatcher gave Lacey a consultation on the dove. David stood behind him at a distance.

'Well, the good news is, no broken bones," Dr Thatcher said. "She was just a little dehydrated, but I got her some fluids, and she should be just fine."

"And the bad news?" Lacey felt a pit forming in her stomach.

"Well, this is a North Atlantic dove. It's a migratory species, very unique among American doves. Now, they tend to form strong monogamous bonds, meaning-"

"If I don't get her back to her flock, she'll be locked up and separated from everyone she cares about, living out her life caged."

"Well, it's... It's a long shot, but the alternative..." He placed the dove into a cage. "She'll heal, but she won't be happy here."

"I'll take my chances. Thank you, doctor."

"You're welcome. Good luck." He left. She picked up the cage.

"Lacey," David said, "there's a storm coming. You really shouldn't be out there."

"Well, the storm is coming tomorrow, and if I wait, she could be lost forever, completely alone. No one deserves that."

"Then let me drive you."

She smiled. "Okay. Thank you."

Belle looked out of the window of the tower. The bars on the window blocked her view partly but she could see enough to know that it would be a long way down onto sharp rocks.

There was nothing in the room that could help her escape. Her only chance was getting past the guards once the door opened again. She knew that it was unlikely to work, they were trained guards and she had spent most of her life a sheltered princess but she had to try.

Emma was loading supplies into the police car. Graham had gone inside the police station to get more supplies.

A man gave the weather report through the car's radios. "Storybrooke is seeing wind gusts of up to six miles an hour. Your best bet is to stay in the house- " The radio clicked off. Emma looked to the front of the car and saw Regina looking as annoyed as ever.

It figures that it was her. She continued to load supplies. "If you're looking to blame me for the storm, I think you're taking things a bit far now."

"I need you to look into something, Deputy. Someone's in town—someone new."

"Yeah, I know. I gave him directions last night." She didn't want to bring up Graham and risk getting him in trouble. She didn't know if Graham was even allowed to see Henry anymore.

"You talked to him? Well, what'd he say?"

"He asked for directions. Who is he? Did he do something?"

"I don't know. I asked around but no one seems to know anything. There's something about him—something familiar." But it was impossible that she knew him or at least it should be. Everyone that was brought to the Land without Magic was supposed to have been brought there by her curse. She had thought that Emma was the only one who had avoided being brought to Storybrooke.

"He must be one of the untold millions you cursed."

Regina was taken a back. "What?"

"Oh, you know, the Curse. Henry's whole thing."

Regina's lip curled in distaste. "Deputy, I need you to find out who he is, what he wants, and what he's doing here."

"You know, as hard as you tried to find one in my case, there is no law against visiting Storybrooke."

"This isn't about the law, Miss Swan. You're gonna do this because I asked you to and because you'll see it's the right thing to do."

Emma closed the trunk of her car. "And why is that?"

"Because he was in front of my house, taking a particular interest in the one thing we both care about—Henry."

She's got me there. "I'll look into him." Emma walked toward the front of her car. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

David was driving through the woods as thunder rumbled. The dove was in the back with Lacey holding onto the birdcage as he drove. He arrived at a roadblock and stopped the car. Thunder continued to rumble making Lacey's nerves stand on end. It felt like a bad omen.

"Well, the flock can't be much farther. We just have to beat the storm." Lacey unbuckled her seat belt.

"I don't think this is a good idea." David unbuckled his seat belt anyway.

"It'll be fine." Then she spoke to the bird. "They're waiting for you." She grabbed the birdcage and exited the car. She pulled up the hood of her jacket. David got out of the car and followed after her. She ran along the road while carrying the birdcage, outrunning David. Doves were cooing off in the distance. She looked around but couldn't see them. The sound made her heart feel like it was going to burst, she was so close.

"Do you hear that!? Your flock." She stopped at the top of a crest and looked down in a ravine. She set the birdcage down and a sudden clap of thunder made her jump. In a moment of distraction Lacey slipped and tumbled down the slope. At the very edge she grabbed onto a root and was left dangling. She screamed. She attempted to pull herself up but couldn't get manage to get a foot hold. Suddenly a hand grabbed her arm and she looked up.

"David!" In a moment of panic she had forgotten that he had even come with her.

"Grab my hand!" She grabbed his hand so tight that it must have hurt. "Hold tight!" He started to pull her up. "Come on!" He pulled her up onto solid ground and Lacey fell against him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Thank you, thank you."

"Aren't you glad you took me with you?"

"Yeah." Lacey gave a nervous laugh. She pulled away from him and brushed herself off. "It was like that cliff came out of nowhere. I didn't know that Storybrooke even had cliffs." She stood up and headed back up the slope toward the road. David followed after her.

"Where are you going?"

"I came to find the flock!"

"And I came here to get you before you got hurt!" They reached the road. Thunder clapped and heavy rain began to fall. "We have to go!"

Lacey saw the birdcage ahead and she ran to get it. "No!"

"Doing this on foot is not the best plan!"

Lacey gave an indignant huff. I already knew that! "The gate was closed!" Then she cringed. She hadn't meant to get so angry. David was only looking out for her.

"I know, I saw."

"You followed after me." David to his credit looked sheepish. She attempted to cover the birdcage with her jacket. The rain felt cold on her skin. She wore a sweater but it offered no protection from the rain and would be useless in keeping her warm now. "It's too late, we have to go."

"But the bird-"

"Lacey, it's not safe! We need to get out of here." Thunder crashed across the sky. "Come on." Lacey grabbed the birdcage. Together they headed back up the road, eventually coming upon a cabin.

David pointed. "There!" Thunder rumbled in the distance. "Come on!" They approached the cabin.

Lacey looked through a window. "Hello? Hello!? Is anyone in there!?" David peered into another window. "It's empty!" David tried the door handle, it was locked. She kicked the door open with him and they entered the cabin. David looked at her. He hadn't expected her to kick down a door with him, she seemed so delicate. She set the birdcage down.

"We need to find firewood," she said. David took a flashlight out of his jacket and turned it on. He nodded at her. After some time looking they found some firewood, a fire stoker and a blanket.

David stoked the fire in the fireplace. He sighed. This day wasn't going at all like he expected. "Okay." He looked at Lacey. "Let's get you dry." He got up and walked about the cabin.

"Whose cabin is this? Are you sure it's okay for us to be in here?"

David unfolded a blanket. "Well, you're roommates with the Deputy, so I doubt she'll arrest us for breaking and entering."

Lacey didn't met his eyes as she thought about how her and Emma had just let Graham steal a gem from beneath Regina's father's grave. The law doesn't apply to Emma's friends? No. She's not like that. There's more to this, I just don't know what it is. Something about that situation was all wrong. Why would Regina put gems there and not in a safe or safety deposit box? Who makes a room underneath their parent's grave? There's something going on here. But what? Or am I losing my mind?

David put the blanket around Lacey, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Here."

"Thank you." She pulled the blanket closer. "Sorry about getting you into this mess. I really thought that I could save that bird. Being locked up is no life for it."

"It's alright. I chose to come with you. And hey maybe the bird can still find it's flock after the rain clears. Birds are good at finding each other."

Emma took shelter from the rainstorm at Granny's Diner. She looked over and saw the stranger sitting in a booth drinking coffee. She took off her hat and walked towards him.

"We need to talk."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because," she saw the wooden box on the floor next to him. It looked like there were clasps that opened the box, "you're suspicious."

"Sitting here? Out in the open? Drinking coffee?" Emma narrowed her eyes, she wasn't in the mood to play games. "I wonder what kind of hell I would have raised had I ordered a doughnut."

"You were talking to Henry."

"You mean the little kid who came up to me asking me questions? Is that unusual for him, being curious and precocious?"

"What were you doing outside his house?"

"My bike broke down. It happens."

"Your mysterious box. What's in it?"

"It's awfully frustrating, not knowing, isn't it?"

"Just tell me."

"Why? Is it illegal to carry around a box in these parts?"

"No, of course it's not."

"You really want to know what's inside it, don't you?"

"No." Emma cocked her head. "Well, maybe." She sat down in the booth opposite the Stranger.

"I'm gonna make you wait. You're gonna have to wait a long time, and watch me carry it around, hauling it, to strange and mysterious places. And with each passing moment the mystery will become more tantalizing. Your imagination will inflame, but so will your frustration, never knowing, only guessing, "What could possibly be inside that box?". Or-" he leaned in and paused momentarily for effect, "You could let me buy you a drink sometime and I'll tell you right now."

"You want to buy me a drink?" This wasn't at all where she expected the conversation to go. Graham popped into her head. How would he react if he was here for this? Does he even like me or was it just one drunk kiss? Not that it matters.

He smiled. "Yes."

Emma stared intently. "Okay, a drink it is."

The stranger picks up his box and sets it on the table in front of Emma. He paused for effect, then opened it to reveal a typewriter. She didn't know what she had been expecting exactly but after all that buildup she had thought that it would be something more impressive. "Really?"

"I'm a writer."

"That's why you're here?"

"I find this place provides inspiration. Don't you?" Lightning flashed outside as he closed the box.

"Wait. Have you been here before?"

"I didn't say that." He left a tip on the table and stood up with his box in hand.

"What about that drink?"

"I said 'sometime'." Emma raised her eyebrow as he left.

"I'm sorry about getting us stuck here."

"It's not too bad.

She shushed him. "David, the rain's stopped. I need to get her out." She ran over to the birdcage and grabbed it.

"No. Lacey-" She charged out the door and he followed. They walked down the road a short distance. "Lacey, please can we at least ta-"

Lacey shushed him. "Listen." They watched as doves flied overhead. "The flock! It didn't leave!"

"Must have been waiting for the storm to clear."

She opened the birdcage and took the dove out. "Time to join your friends. You can do it." She threw the dove into the air and watched as it took flight and joined the other doves. She laughed and David smiled.

"We should be getting back," he said.

"Yeah." She looked over at him. "I have some tea and biscuits in the library if you want to join me."

"That sounds great." David picked up the birdcage. "We should return this to the pet shelter."

After returning the birdcage to the pet shelter, David went to his car that had been left there. He followed Lacey back to the library.

Lacey had just unlocked the library door when Emma spotted them from the outside of Granny's. "Lacey! David!"

They turned to look at her. Emma crossed the street to meet them. "I didn't expect to see you two here."

"We were just going in," Lacey said. "Do you want to join us?"

"Actually I wanted to talk to David."

"I'll turn the kettle on." Lacey closed the door behind her.

Emma and David stared at each other for a moment.

"This might seem like a dumb question but have you made your choice about Kathryn?"

"I've been thinking a lot about what you said and you were right. Something happened lately that really put things into perspective. I know that it's a big commitment and it's not going to be easy but I can't leave Kathryn now. I have a plan."

Emma smiled. "Good luck with the baby."

"What baby?"

Emma gaped. "She might be pregnant, I saw her picking up a pregnancy test. I thought you knew."

"I had no idea."

"What happened then to put things into perspective? Is everything alright?"

David scratched his head and chuckled nervously. "Might sound silly but helping Lacey reunite a bird with its flock. We waited out the storm and in the end it turned out that the flock hadn't left yet. If she had left the bird at the pet shelter it might have never found its family. If I don't try to work out things out with Kathryn I'll never know what could have happened."

David entered the library and looked around at the shelves of books. There must be a break room around somewhere but he had no idea where to go.

"Lacey?" he called out.

"Coming!" She sounded distant. Maybe she was still in the break room. When she finally showed up in front him Lacey was out of jacket, scarf, hat and mittens. "Oh, let me get your coat."

"It's fine. I don't think that I'll stay long." I should be going back to Kathryn right now, I haven't seen her for most of the day. But what will I even say to her?

"Okay. I'll show you to the break room." David followed her to the break room through the rows of book cases that all looked the same to him.

"So you run this place all by yourself?"

"Yeah. Not a lot of people care about books in this town. There was a girl that helped me clean sometimes but she's busy with a newborn right now."

"I might start coming." Perhaps there were some books on babies that he could find. Did Kathryn even want children? Did we discuss this but I just can't remember? David was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even notice when they reached the break room until he walked into Lacey. They said "Sorry" at the same time.

"I'm the one who walked into you."

"I was in your way." Lacey opened the door and they walked in.

David noted that it was really more of a small kitchen than a staff room. It was rather cosy. There were two mugs by the kettle with tea bags and spoons already in them and there was a sugar bowl on the small table. Lacey filled the cups. She set the tea cups down on the table.

"The water probably cooled down by now. I should have reheated it. I could microwave yours."

"That's okay." He put his hands around his mug, trying to soak up the warmth of the cup.

Lacey sat down across from him. "I don't want to pry but is everything okay?"

"I just have a lot to think about." She pushed a box of ginger snaps towards him and he took one.

"Well if you ever want to talk about it I'm willing to lend an ear."

"Thanks. I really appreciate that." He took a bite of his cookie.

David was getting dressed for work when Kathryn walked in and sat at the foot of the bed.

"Anything you want to tell me?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Something's up isn't it? What?"

"I feel like ever since you've come home you're here, but you're not HERE. I know you say you're trying, and I know you've been through a lot but-"

"No, no, Kathryn-"

"No, David please just let me finish." He gestured for her to continue. "I know its been hard on you, but its also been hard on me." He walked over to her. "I want a family with you someday. I want children." He nodded. "I'll be honest, I thought I was pregnant. And when the test came back negative, at first I was upset. But then I was relieved. We're not ready! If I was pregnant now, it- it would be a disaster."

"Yeah."

"But I want to fix this. I want to fix us."

"Me too."

"Do you?" He nodded. "Well then let's go see Doctor Hopper. Let's get some help. Will you do that? Will you give us our best shot?"

Emma and Graham had taken one of the booths at Granny's. Ruby served both of them coffee.

"Thanks, Ruby," they said at the same time.

"So," he said after Ruby was gone, "did you find out anything about the stranger?"

"Yes but he didn't give me his name. He says that he's a writer and that Storybrooke provides inspiration. He carries around an old typewriter in that box of his." Emma took a sip of her coffee. "And he asked me to have a drink at some unspecified time."

"Like a date? Do you think that you can trust him?"

Emma gave him a look. "I'm not actually going. But agreeing to go is the only way that he would tell me what was in his box. Talking with him was weird, it was like he was trying to be mysterious."

David came to the booth. "Emma, can I talk to you outside for a minute?"

"Yeah." She added "I'll be right back" to Graham.

"Sorry about this," David said to Graham. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important."

"Don't worry about it." Graham smiled. It was nice to see Emma hang out with her father even if the two of them had no idea who they were to each other. Emma stood up and followed David.

"Is everything okay?" she asked once they were outside.

"She's not pregnant." Emma didn't say anything so David continued. "Yeah. I just thought that you'd like to know. I felt like you should know, though I don't know why." David scratched his head nervously. "We're going to go to couples therapy. I never thanked you for that speech you gave when I visited you in the sheriff's station, I don't know what I would have done otherwise."

"You can't give me all the credit. The choice was yours in the end." Emma couldn't shake off the feeling that David's choice was wrong but she didn't know why, Kathryn was perfectly lovely.

"Well thank you anyway."

Across the street Regina sat in her car and watched them.