A/N: Double update! Kinda backtracked a little flashback wise in this chapter but I think it all flows ok. I'm more a football (soccer) fan, so baseball terms and all that isn't my forte, I do like the Yankee's even if I've only watched like two games and had no idea what was going on.

"The idea back then, of playing baseball in a storm seemed so…. dangerous, but it soon became clear as to why playing in a thunderstorm, is key" a chuckle fell from Ruby painted lips, "but it wasn't the storm we needed to worry about" Amber eyes darkened.

Emma watched as Zelena and Killian choose who batted first, Zelena punched him in the chest when he won, causing Cora to roll her eyes at her children, Regina was pulled over by Ruby leaving Emma to stand at the car and watch as the Mills family got ready for their game, Emma didn't hear Henry beside her until he spoke,

"Wondering why we play in the storm?" Henry said casually causing Emma to jump, he chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, Emma relaxed into the man, she still smiled at the comfort the embrace brought her, "my apologies, I didn't mean to scare you" he said with a warm smile, Emma returned it tenfold, still not believing that he was in fact a vampire.

"I didn't choose to become one Emma" Henry said as he watched Emma staring out over the lake, "and even if it was, I would have chosen death a thousand times over" he said, Emma turned to him and smiled, "we were living in New York, myself and Cora, Regina was only a child, all my girls where at the time, I worked for a telecommunication company, or a phone company as they are called now, and I was walking home from the office, I never usually cut through the park, but this one night I did, it was ten minutes faster, but the park was dangerous at best during the day, at night, at night, no one went near it, but I wanted to see my girls, I had got a promotion, I was to be made a partner in the company, something that wasn't really that common for a non-family member to achieve back then" he paused and lifted his drink from the table, taking a mouthful, he paused before swallowing and setting it down, how anyone in his family drank the apple cider regularly he would never understand, even if he wasn't a vampire, he would still choose not to drink it, "people always thought that no one would dare attack a man, a gentleman of my stature" Henry said, he looked at Emma who was staring at him with nothing but curiosity, he couldn't help but wink and make like he was doing up a tie, which caused her to laugh lightly,

"Henry, I…" Emma started but Henry smiled at her,

"I promise you Emma, I wouldn't tell you if it upset me or brought me pain, the memories are just, not as pleasant even now" Emma eyed him suspiciously and he rolled his eyes, god help his daughter, Emma was a force to be reckoned with, and he had only officially known her a few hours, "I wanted to get home to see my girls, Regina was very young, maybe five, Ruby and Zelena were older so they understood things a little better, but Cora would never understand what had happened, I had essentially disappeared, leaving my wife and three young daughters to not only fend for themselves but worry where I had gone" Henry said, he sighed and ran his hand through his golden hair, "I…I was attacked, by a vampire named James, he…he was a tracker" Henry paused,

"A…a tracker? Like a GPS?" Emma asked, Henry chuckled, give it to Emma to make laughter come from a story filled with horror and fear

"In a way I suppose he was, he tracked his targets, once he has their scent, he won't stop until he has them"

"He caught your scent?" Emma asked, Henry nodded,

"Yes, he did, he caught it, he hunted me down like a cat hunts a mouse, once he had me cornered he pounced, there was a small bridge that lead to the other side of the park, he was waiting underneath it, the bridge was old and mossy so it was slightly slippery, and I did indeed slip, I lost my footing and fell onto my side, my arm got caught on an old nail and opened the skin, the blood, pored, and it was just enough for him to fully sense me" Henry rolled his sleeve up and turned his arm over, his skin was smooth but he ran his finger down his forearm, "The moment I turned, every scar, every mark of my human life disappeared." Henry said, he lifted his head and looked at Emma, she was staring at his arm, curiosity on her face, no disgust, no shame, he couldn't help the smile, Emma was by far the most unique human he had come across in over one hundred years,

"Did it happen that night?" Emma asked, taking a step closer to Henry, Henry rolled his sleeve back down and shook his head,

"Oh no, he didn't make it that easy, he came from underneath the bridge and stood above me, he smiled, his fangs bared so I knew what he was, I was terrified. James likes to play with his prey, he likes to make them think he is gone, but once he gets your scent, you will never be free until he either kills you, or he turns you" Henry said,

"Has anyone ever gotten away from him?" Emma asked, it didn't take a vampire to notice his eyes growing darker or his grip on the rail tighten, Emma cursed herself for asking the question, but Henry seemed to compose him,

"There has been a few, it doesn't happen often, but when it does, you are never truly safe" Henry said, he couldn't help but look over his shoulder and back into the kitchen, he watched as Ruby and Zelena flicked the drying cloths at each other, as Regina listened to her mother, his gazes went back to Zelena and Ruby,

"Ruby?" Emma asked, Henry was quite impressed with the blonde, it wasn't clear who he was staring at from this distance as they were now standing side by side, he wanted to assume it was merely a lucky guess, but he didn't think that, Henry nodded,

"Yes, my darling Ruby was one of his 'ones that got away'" Henry said turning back around to look out over the lake, "Ruby had went off on her own, many years after she had turned, she wanted to explore the world a little, I was reluctant to let her leave, vampires didn't take kindly to being stumbled upon by other ones, especially someone who was as young as Ruby, and was, on her own, but I let her go, she had travelled to Europe, and there, she ran into James" Henry said,

"What did he do?" Emma asked, concern filled her voice, she knew nothing bad as the person in question was inside, but she was still concerned about what it had done it her.

"He doesn't get as much thrill as hunting other vampires as he does humans, their, scent, isn't as intoxicating, but he does it for the thrill, a vampire can put up more of a fight, which is also something he loves, prey that fight for survival. He taunted her, with my death, with the death of her mother and her sisters, he made her run, and that was the worst thing she could have done, a vampire out on their own is an easy target, they are never safe when they are on their own, she ran into the words, in another coven, ran by Adam, a French vampire, his niece and him where the only ones left, most of his coven having been wiped out by James and others, some had left and some had got into things they shouldn't have" Henry paused, Emma looked back out onto the water, her eyes suddenly went wide,

"that was Belle's original coven wasn't it?" Emma asked, a small bit of excitement in her voice, "I remember her mentioning that she met Ruby in the woods" Emma said, quite proud of herself for remembering something so small, Henry smiled,

"Yes, it was Belle's coven, Belle and Adam saved my daughter, but Adam, he gave his life for my daughter, and I gave my life for his niece, Belle returned Ruby back to us, and she has had a family ever since, much like how Regina has fallen for you, Belle had fallen for Ruby, she saved my daughter, saved her from James, and in doing so became each other's mate" Henry said,

"Belle fell in love with her" Emma said, Henry nodded, "Was that how Belle came to be here? Because of her saving Ruby?" Emma asked, Henry smiled,

"Essentially yes, when a vampire risks their lives to save another, a debt is owed, that debt can go one of two ways, it can be repaid by joining that vampires coven, or by always being at their call, no matter what the situation, if they wish something of you or for you to do something, then you have to honour it, most tend to join covens, it seems, easier, especially if they are by themselves or with one they are not too certain of" Henry said, "others take the second option, and owe you a debt, it isn't as common, but it is still done, usually by those who have mates and have set up covens of their own" Henry said, Emma looked into the kitchen once more and watched Belle and Ruby closely, she had never seen just how closely Belle truly watched Ruby, how she was always within arm's reach of the taller brunette, Emma did just assume it was because they were together, but the more she found out about the Mills family, the more it seemed to make sense,

"I take it James didn't take it too well that Ruby got away" Emma said, turning back around to Henry who was looking at Emma, Emma wasn't afraid of any of the Mills family, well maybe August, but it was more caution,

"You are a very unique young woman Emma" Henry said, ignoring Emma's comment about James, Emma looked at her curiously and he smiled, "my family, we don't tend to make 'friends' with humans, much of that is because my children, don't want the temptation, giving they are all well capable of controlling their thirst, it still can prove hard if one has a bad day" Henry said, Emma walked back over to him and leaned against the railing looking out into the water, "I…I often wondered if changing my family was a curse" Henry said, sadness evident in his voice,

"Why would you considerate it a curse? You have them with you, forever" Emma said, Henry went to respond but Emma spoke again, "you would have watched them die right?" Emma asked, Henry was looking at her, he slowly nodded, not really sure where the young blonde was going with this, "then I don't think it was a curse Henry, I think you gave them all a better life, you gave them you" Emma said, Henry smiled and wrapped his arm around Emma, he had over one hundred years of being in close contact with humans but in that time, he had never met someone quite like Emma Swan.

"That's ok" Emma said, leaning into the older man when he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, Emma never thought she would ever feel as comfortable around someone like she did with her father, but Henry had quickly filled that void that even David couldn't, "but yes, I was wondering why you play in the storm,?" Emma said, before Henry could respond, Cora appeared out of nowhere and pulled Emma away from her husband,

"Come Emma, you are the umpire" Cora said as she moved Emma towards the starting base,

"She thinks we cheat" Killian said as he came up behind them to which Cora scoffed,

"I know you cheat" Cora said, Emma chuckled and watched as Killian stuck his tongue out at his mother, Cora smiled at Emma, "call them as you see them Emma" Emma nodded at Cora who moved in front of her, she looked around as everyone moved across the pitch to stand at different areas, Emma wasn't a massive baseball fan, but having grown-up in New York, she had attended the odd Yankee game with her parents or Lily and Mal, Ruby looked up to the sky as the first rumble of thunder sounded and a flash of lightening brightened the sky,

"It's time" Ruby said, Cora grinned and squatted down in front of Emma, Zelena was the first one up to bat, Emma watched as Ruby squared her shoulders and threw the ball, the ball sped towards Zelena at lightning speed and just as the bat made contact with the ball, a clap of thunder sounded around them, Emma's eyes went wide and she looked to a smiling Cora who was now standing,

"Ok, now the storm makes sense" Emma said with awe, she watched as the ball flew through the air towards the woods, Regina's head spun towards it and she took off in pursuit, Emma watched her eyes wide with wonder, "that has to be a homerun" Emma whispered, Cora chuckled,

"Regina is very fast" Cora responded as she watched Zelena almost make her way back, suddenly the ball came sailing through the air and was caught by Cora, who touched it just before Zelena slid to base, Emma looked at her,

"You're out" Emma said, Zelena narrowed her eyes and playfully growled at the blonde who just shook her head with a small smile, Cora chuckled,

"About time we have a fair game" Cora shouted to Zelena who just turned and stuck her tongue out, making her way over to her chuckling father who wrapped him arm around her shoulder, August was next to bat, he danced the bat in his hands and pointed it towards Ruby with a smile, Ruby rolled her eyes and wound up her arm, she threw the ball and once again when bat and ball made contact, the thunder clapped loudly, the ball sailed through the air and Emma watched in awe once more as Killian scaled a tree, jumping to catch the ball and throwing it back to Cora,

"My monkey man" Zelena said causing everyone around her to laugh, Belle was next, she pointed the bat at Ruby who blew her a kiss, Belle hit the ball and it sailed through the air, but before she could get very far Ruby's shout of 'STOP!' had her sliding to a stop, she turned and gasped, Regina cursed and ran to Emma, the entire Mills family pushing Emma behind them. "get her out of her Gina, now!" Zelena growled, Emma could hear the worry in her voice, but her face betrayed nothing,

"It's too late love" Killian said, as they all turned back to the woods, Emma watched as three other people emerged from the mist, a tall man with long blonde hair and red eyes, a woman with red hair, almost Zelena's double, and a smaller colours man, Emma gulped, she had a bad feeling about this.

A/N: Let me know your thoughts, they help feed my muse.