Author's Notes: A special thank you goes out to BizarreBard. She has been helping me by Betaing this story and giving suggestions on where to take things. I'm very appreciative of her help.

Chapter 16: True North

"Follow me." Regina says as she leads Snow White into the field, where they come to a tombstone. It has a heart etched into it. "Do you remember when I ran down your runaway horse, Snow? Do you remember when I saved your life?"

Snow White nods, "Of course. It all looks the same."

"Not quite. This is new." Regina says.

"Is that…" Snow White says.

Regina nods, "A grave. Daniel's grave."

"Daniel? I thought…" Snow White says.

"He ran away? I told you that to spare your feelings out of…kindness. But he died because of you." Regina says.

"I-I'm… I'm sorry." Snow White says.

"I'm sorry, too. But nothing can change what happened. What you did. You promised to keep my secret. You promised, but you lied." Regina says.

"I was very young, and your mother-" Snow White says.

Regina shakes her head, "She ripped his heart out because of you. Because you couldn't listen to me."

Faith sat up in bed and sighed, "Poor, Regina."

The next day Mr. Clark, Regina, Henry, Ava and Nicholas are at the convenience store.

"Well, I'm sorry, Madam Mayor, but your son was shoplifting." Mr. Clark says.

Regina looks to Henry, "Were you?"

Henry shakes his head.

"Look for yourself." Mr. Clark says.

Regina sighs, "My son doesn't eat candy. And he knows better than to steal. It was obviously those two. We're going." She and Henry head for the door.

Buffy and Emma walks in just before Henry and Regina get a chance to leave.

"Henry. What happened?" Emma asks

"Miss Swan, must I remind you that genetics mean nothing. You're not his mother and it's all taken care of." Regina says. "Miss Summers is there a reason for you to be here?"

"I'm here because I'm the Sheriff. And Buffy is my Deputy, and before you make a scene over that. Need I remind you of something that Graham said when he hired me? It's in my budget."

Regina nods, "Oh, that's right. Go on – do your job. Take care of those miscreants." She and Henry leave the store.

"Did you call their parents?" Buffy asks.

Mr. Clark shakes his head, "Uh, the number they gave me was disconnected."

"Did you guys give Mr. Clark a fake number?" Emma asks as Ava and Nicholas shake their heads. "Then why's it disconnected?"

"Cause our parents couldn't pay the bill." Ava said.

"And you guys are just trying to help out, huh?" Buffy asks.

"Please – please don't arrest us. It will just make things worse for our parents." Ava says.

Later Emma and Buffy pulls up to Nicholas and Ava's house.

"This it?" Buffy asks.

Ava nods. Emma and Buffy takes off their seatbelts and goes to get out of the car, but Ava stops them. "Please, no. If our parents see you, they'll be so embarrassed."

"Did Henry tell you about my superpower?" Emma asks.

"We just met him." Ava says.

"I have the ability to tell when anyone is lying. Tell me the truth – money problems aside, is everything okay at home?" Emma says.

Ava nods, "Yeah, we're great. Can we go?"

Emma looks to Buffy who nods, "Alright."

Ava and Nicholas get out of the car with a bag of stuff and go up the stairs of the house. They stop at the front door, turn around, and wave at Emma and Buffy as they drive off.

"They're gone. We're good." Ava says as they don't go inside the house, and instead go back down the stairs.

They go around back, where they jump a fence. They end up behind an abandoned house, which they enter through the basement. Inside, Ava unpacks the things they picked up from store and Nicholas sits on the bed. Suddenly, they hear a noise coming from upstairs. When they go to investigate, they end up finding Buffy and Emma.

"Why'd you guys lie to us? Where are your parents?" Buffy asks.

"We don't have any." Ava says.

Later at Mary Margaret's apartment, Ava and Nicholas are eating at the table, while Buffy, Emma and Mary Margaret talk off to the side.

Emma is holding a file about the kids. "Do you know them? Do they go to your school?"

"I've seen them, but… I had no idea. None of us did." Mary Margaret says.

Emma opens the file she's holding. "Ava and Nicholas Zimmer. They said their mother was a woman named Dory Zimmer. She died a few years ago. No one seems to know her or remember her."

"And the father?" Mary Margaret asks.

Buffy sighs, "There isn't one. At least not one that they know."

"What does, uh… What does Social Services say?" Mary Margaret says as Emma gives her a look. "You two didn't report them."

"We report them, we can't help them. They go into the system." Emma says.

"The system that's supposed to help." Mary Margaret says.

Buffy sighs, "Four years ago my mom died. The only options were either my sister stay with me, go into the system or go to our father. Our father was out of the question as we had no idea where he was. He literally disappeared; we couldn't even find him to tell him our mom had passed away. That left putting her into foster care or staying with me. Foster care would have meant splitting us up. Something neither Dawn nor I were comfortable with. And that is the possibility of what could happen here. They could be separated."

"Yeah, the system I knew and was in for sixteen years. Do you know what happens? They get thrown into homes where they are a meal ticket – nothing more. These families get paid for these kids and as soon as they're too much work, they get tossed out and it all starts over again."

"But they're not all like that." Mary Margaret. "And maybe they won't be separated."

"All the ones I was in." Emma said.

"It depends on the foster home they are placed in." Buffy says. "If the foster home can only take care of one of them they might be split up."

"What? We're just going to adopt them?" Mary Margaret asks Emma.

Emma shakes her head, "Buffy and I want to look for their father. They don't know him. He may not know they exist."

"And you think if he knows, he'll want them?" Mary Margaret asks.

Buffy shrugs, "I don't know."

"I don't know either. But what I do know is its hard enough finding foster families to take one kid that isn't theirs, let alone two. It's their best shot, or-" Emma says.

Ava, who was eavesdropping, interrupts. She is in tears. "We're going to be separated?"

"No. That's not going to happen." Buffy says.

"Please – please don't let it." Ava says.

In Regina's office, Faith knocks on the door. Regina looks up and smiles, "Hello Ms. Lehane. What can I do for you?"

"I thought I would get to know my neighbor, who just happens to be the Mayor." Faith said.

"Of course Ms. Lehane. Why don't you have a seat?" Regina said as she looked at Faith. She wondered if Faith knew who she was or not. She wanted to tell Faith about who she was but she wasn't sure how her daughter would take it. "So what would you like to know?"

"Well first you can call me, Faith. Ms. Lehane was the sorry excuse for a woman that adopted me." Faith said.

Regina nodded, "Alright, Faith. May I ask you a couple things?"

"Sure." Faith said.

"When you, Ms. Summers and her sister arrived here. I admit that I had you three checked out." Regina said.

"We know you did." Faith said. "Our employer called to let us know someone probed my police records. I assume you want to know why I ended up in jail?" Regina nods. "It's a long story. And to tell the truth one I'm not ready to discuss with you just yet."

"Fair enough." Regina said. "Ask anything you want and if I can answer I will. There are some things that I'm afraid I can't answer. Like yourself I just am not ready to yet."

"Of course." Faith said and she started asking question of Regina. Who she was. How she adopted Henry. The false allegations that Regina had made against Buffy, Faith and Dawn when they first arrived.

"You have to remember. I didn't know you at that time. And well you and Deputy Summers both have checkered pasts. Deputy Summers had been reported burning down a gym and then later an entire school. No charges were pressed for either incident. Just like when she became the prime suspect in the murder of a teenage girl." Regina said.

"I'll let B fill you in on most of that stuff when she's ready. But what I know of the incidents in question she was innocent of all crimes. In fact the murder you speak of was a friend of hers who had been killed by escaped mental patient." Faith said.

Regina nods. "Then there is the fact you did go to jail for two years. So you see the reason behind the false allegations. You and Deputy Summers were not someone I wanted in my town."

"Understandable. Of course we stayed anyways." Faith said.

"Yes you did." Regina said.

At that same time Buffy and Emma enters the office of Mr. Krzyszkowski.

"Excuse me. Mr…Krzyszkowski?" Emma says.

Mr. Krzyszkowski nds, "Yeah, it's Krzyszkowski. Everyone calls me K."

"Mr. K. I am Sheriff Swan. And this is Deputy Summers We're hoping to look at the birth certificates of Ava and Nicholas Zimmer." Emma says.

Mr. Krzyszkowski nods, "Alright, just, uh, fill out this form – in triplicate." He pulls out three identical forms.

Emma nods, "Okay." She starts to fill out the forms, while Mr. Krzyszkowski looks through a filing cabinet.

Mr. Krzyszkowski frowns, "I'm so sorry. Those documents have been recently removed."

"By who?" Buffy asks.

Later Emma and Buffy confront Regina in Regina's office. Faith is there as well.

Buffy looks towards Faith as if to ask why are you here?

"Don't worry, Miss Swan. You can relax. I've contacted Social Services. Turns out these kids are on their own. They need help." Regina says.

"Which is exactly what we're trying to do. We're trying to find their father." Emma says.

"Well, he doesn't exist." Regina says as she hands Emma a file.

Buffy shakes her head, "He has to."

Emma opens the file. The Father section of the birth certificate only has 'Unknown' written in it.

"Well, of course, biologically, he exists. But there's no record of him. Which means we have no choice – these children need a home, so they will be put into the foster system." Regina says.

"Storybrooke has a foster system?" Emma asks.

Regina shakes her head, "No, but I've contacted the state. Maine's group homes, unfortunately, are filled. But they put us in touch with two homes in Boston – a boy's home and a girl's."

"They're separating them?" Buffy asks.

Regina looks to Buffy and sighs, "I don't like it, either. But we've got no choice. Sherriff you need to have them in Boston tonight."

"Me?" Emma asks.

"Well, you wanted to be Sheriff. This is what sheriffs do. Yes, you're taking them." Regina says.

"No. Emma and I promised them they wouldn't be separated." Buffy said.

"Well then, perhaps Miss Summers you and Miss Swan should stop making promises you can't keep. These children need a home. I'm just trying to find the best one."

Moments later after Emma and Buffy have left. "Where were we, Faith?" Regina says.

Later Buffy and Emma are in Emma's office at the station. Emma has a pile of files and papers on her desk, which she's sorting through.

Henry, who has his book with him, enters the room. "Any luck?"

Emma shakes her head, "No."

Henry puts the book on the desk and flips through it. "I know who they are. They're brother and sister, lost, no parents – Hansel and Gretel."

"Anything in there about the dad?" Buffy asks.

Henry shakes his head, "Just that he abandoned them."

"Great. Sounds like a familiar story. Whoever this guy is, he could be in Laos by now." Emma says.

Henry shakes his head, "No, he's here."

"Just how do you know that?" Emma asks.

"Cause no one leaves Storybrooke. No one comes here, no one goes. It's just the way it is." Henry said.

"Buffy, Dawn, Faith and I came here." Emma says.

Henry nods, "Because you four are special. You four are the first strangers here – ever."

"Right – I forgot. Well, if he's around here anywhere, Buffy and I are going to find him." Emma says.

"Can you tell me about him?" Henry asks.

Buffy shakes her head, "We don't know anything yet."

Henry sighs, "Not their father – mine." He looks to Emma. "I told you about your parents and now, you're even living with your mom."

"Mary Margaret isn't… She's… Never mind." Emma says.

"Please?" Henry asks.

Emma sighs, "I was pretty young. I'd just gotten out of the foster system and the only job I could get was at this twenty four hour diner just off the interstate. And, um… Your dad was training to be a fireman. He always got the worst shifts, so he'd come in and order coffee and pie and sit at the counter and always complain that we didn't sell pumpkin pie. But he always came back the next night anyway."

"Did you get married?" Henry asks.

Emma shakes her head, "Oh, no. Nothing like that. We just… We hung out a few times outside of work and…life happened. His got better and mine got worse and… I got into some trouble."

"And you went to jail." Henry said.

Emma nods, "Yeah. Before I went, I… I found out I was pregnant with you. And I tried to contact him, and I found out that he died saving a family from a burning apartment building. So, you think I'm a savior, Henry – he was. Your father was a real hero."

"Do you have anything of his? Something you can remember him by. Something I could see." Henry says.

Emma shakes her head, "I… I don't. Henry, I'm sorry. I got to go. I may know how to find this guy."

After Henry has left Buffy looks to Emma, "What you told him wasn't the truth was it?"

Emma looks to her friend and shakes her head, "No. But the truth would be worse. His father is the reason I went to jail."