TemperanceTales: I do not own Once Upon a Time in anyway shape or form and I give full credit to the creators.

Chapter Eleven: Death in Storybrooke

"You're Most Gracious Majesty."

The Queen of Hearts sat in her study, staring down at the gardens. Her Knave of hearts stood there, his noble yet obnoxious manner all too prominent. Her red dress was extra fluffy but the bodice tightly hugging her figure. He then continued as he said, "People are down in the hall waiting for Your Majesty's proclamation. You're Knights wish to know what they should do-."

"Have you any news of the Mage?"

Her voice wasn't terribly mean, but she was commanding. The Knave of Hearts breathed sharply before saying, "No, the Mage had been hiding well."

"Search better and my decree is as before, destroy all rebels. I will be down to sooth my people soon," She commanded in a noble yet sophisticated manner. He bowed and left the queen to herself. Staring out the window, she let out a little sigh. Her gardens were undisturbed, but her eyes looked far from happy. Standing up, she said, "Run, Run, Alice my darling dear, run with your rebel companions. But I will catch you eventually."

Autumn stared down at Belle's face, her expression nervous. The weather was cold, whipping around her face. Holding on to her notepad, she wondered if this was even going to work. There was only one way to tell. Writing on the notepad, she murmured, "Are you safe?"

Holding it up to the window, Autumn waited for Belle to comprehend what she had said. The woman stared blankly for a minute. Autumn was almost afraid her attempt was in vain when Belle nodded her head. Autumn scribbled again hastily, looking over her shoulder before showing it to her: What is your name?

Belle stared from her message to Autumn's face, looking aghast. She opened her mouth to speak, but Autumn could not hear anything. Autumn shook her head and wrote on the pad: I can't hear you.

Belle looked desperate, moving her hands in distinct movements. It took Autumn to realize that she was speaking sign language. Autumn bit her lip before scribbling down on the pad: I don't understand sign language. I need to learn how. I will come back tomorrow I promise."

Belle stared at the page her face falling. She pressed her hand up against the glass, staring hopefully at her. Autumn put her hand over it, letting the pad drop away from the window. She got close to the window and said loudly, "I promise."

Autumn didn't know if Belle, or whatever her Storybrooke name might be, understood for she disappeared out of sight. Sighing, Autumn put the pad in her backpack, resolved to come back tomorrow. Jefferson warned her against it but Autumn just couldn't leave her there unchecked. She didn't want to leave her in there at all, but the Queen stopped by every single day at two pm. Releasing her now without a plan would only endanger her more. Slinging the back pack on her shoulder, Autumn hurried off to Regina's without delay.

"Why do I have to go to this thing?!"

It was the first thing she heard when walking into the house. Autumn looked over at the dining room to see Regina and Henry arguing. Closing the door, Autumn took off her shoes as Regina said firmly, "It's required that we go! I will not have you whining and complaining about going to this Parent Teacher Conference when you've been skipping out on classes!"

"Hi," Autumn said, taking off her bag and coat. Regina and Henry looked towards her. Henry took this as a chance to escape saying, "I'll be upstairs waiting!"

"Henry!" Regina said, but to no avail. Sighing, Regina said, "I'm sorry about that. It seems Henry skipping classes is finally coming back to haunt him."

"I see," Autumn said, hanging up her coat. Autumn's hair was tied back into thick braids and she wore her usually long sleeved shirt with jeans. Shaking her head Regina asked, "Do you ever wear anything short sleeved? I swear, I've never once seen you in a tee-shirt."

"I like long sleeves," Autumn said, shrugging. Regina chuckled and said, "Well Henry is probably waiting for you upstairs. I'll call you when dinner is ready."

"Kay," Autumn said, hurrying up the stairs. Regina shook her head and walked into the kitchen. Autumn opened Henry's bedroom door and closed it behind her. Henry had to the book open saying, "Is she busy with dinner?"

"Yes," Autumn said, "And I found something out. It's really important."

"Really what?" Henry asked and Autumn sat by him flipping the pages of the book quickly. She finally stopped at the page with a picture of a woman in a green-blue cloak. Her eyes were sky blue and her hair rich brown. Autumn looked at Henry and said, "I found her."

"What?! Where?" Henry immediately asked. Autumn said, "I think it's the Hospital Basement. She's locked up in one of the rooms down there."

"But the book says that the Queen-!"

"-lied. She lied," Autumn said, "I saw her with my own eyes."

"So what do we do?" Henry asked urgently and Autumn said with a sigh. Tapping the book, Autumn said softly, "The Mad Hatter, you know Jefferson, he told us to wait. Right now if we broke her out the Evil Queen would be on our case in a split second and we'd have even bigger problems. We need to wait till she's distracted with something big."

"Can we trust the Hatter? Didn't he go all… crazy?" Henry asked, a little concerned and Autumn said firmly, "Yes, we can. He hates the Evil Queen, remember?"

"Right," Henry sounded a little surer now. Autumn stared out the window and said with a frown, "It's raining again."

"We haven't had much snow since the Snow Queen was locked up," Henry said, not sounding too surprised. Nodding, Autumn looked back down at the book flipping the pages of it. Henry watched her for a moment as she stopped at a page with Rumpelstiltskin. Staring down, she heard Henry said, "So why haven't you been around Gold's shop lately? I've gone looking for you there and he says he hasn't seen you since he was released."

"How he got out of that tight spot, I'll never know," Autumn said with a grumble. Henry blinked before smiling. He then said cheekily, "You're just mad because he didn't listen to you."

"Well no duh, I warned him not to go and do it," Autumn said irritated. Henry continued to stare at her as he asked, "Have you figured out who he is?"

"Huh?" Autumn looked back at him and he asked, "Have you figured out who Mr. Gold is?"

"Umm…" Autumn said, slowly, "Yes."

"Really?" Henry asked excitedly, "Who is he?"

"…Rumpelstiltskin," Autumn said, almost reluctantly. Henry sat up alarmed and said, "Are you serious?!"

"Yes," Autumn said, "I'm positive."

"So what do we do?" Henry said, sounding nervous now, "I mean I know you said he was looking for his son but… I mean he's dangerous."

"I know," Autumn said forcefully, which surprised Henry. Turning back around, Autumn sunk down saying, "I know… but he doesn't have his powers right now."

"But he's smart and sneaky, Autumn," Henry said, moving in front of her. Autumn sighed and said, "I know that, but don't worry about him right now. We need to get Emma to believe."

"I know," Henry mumbled. Autumn looked down at the book next to her and said, "You're lucky."

"Huh?" Henry said, staring at Autumn as she looked at the picture in the book. Her face looked calm, but in almost a sad way. Letting out a shaky sigh, Autumn said, "You're lucky to have Emma, your mom. I never knew my mom, except what dad told me about her."

"What was she like?" Autumn rarely talked about her parents with him. She looked over at him with her blue eyes and said, "My mom didn't want me. She got with my dad and when she had me, she left. She didn't want to be a mother."

Henry was surprised and confused. He then asked, "But isn't Felicity-?"

"She's not my mom," Autumn almost snapped, "She just my foster parent. I only call her mom for everyone else's sake."

Henry looked at his friend with surprise. Sitting next to her, Henry asked, "What happened to your dad?"

Any irritation that had been in her eyes slowly melted into sadness. Leaning against Henry's shoulder, Autumn said, "He died a long time ago Henry. A long time ago."

"What was he like?" Henry asked, curiosity getting the better of him. He didn't want to hurt Autumn but he wanted to know. Autumn let a small smile grace her lips and she said, "He was kind to everyone he met. He would always spend time with me, even if he had a lot of work to do that day. He had that go lucky personality that made everyone love him."

Henry watched Autumn as she reminisced about the past. As he watched her, a thought occurred to him. This look on her face, he couldn't help but wonder if her association with Mr. Gold was because she had no one else. But to Henry it didn't matter if this was true, Autumn was his best friend. Taking her hand, he squeezed it gently and her smiled grew. She continued to lean against his shoulder and Henry said, "We can share Emma if you want. She won't mind."

Autumn giggled and said, "Maybe."

"Autumn! Henry! Dinner," Regina called up, putting the lasagna on the table. At first, she heard nothing. Then there was a scurry going on upstairs and Regina heard the two children laughing. A smile tugged at her lips as the two came into sight. Henry didn't bother to look at his mother as he took his seat. Autumn looked at Regina however, and flashed a smile. Pushing her bangs out of her face, Regina let Autumn go sit down as she said, "So, how are things Autumn? You've been coming into town less and less."

"Unfortunately, I've had things to take care of," Autumn said, as Regina served lasagna. Regina glanced at Autumn before saying, "I know Mr. Gold hasn't seen much of you lately. He actually came around looking for you."

"As I said," Autumn said with a shrug, "Things got crazy at home for a while…"

"Has your mother been home more often?" Regina asked and Autumn said, "No more than usual, but we had more things happening at the house. Just that time of year I guess. What have you been up to?"

"Oh just boring mayor business," Regina said, sitting down in her chair, "Had to approve a few investigations, make a couple of deals, things like that."

"I see," Autumn said before taking a bite of her dinner. Regina glanced at Henry, who was eating quietly. Stabbing her fork into her own dinner, Regina said, "Henry and I are going to the school fair at the end of the month, where he and I have a parent-teacher conference. Why don't you meet up with us at the fair? We wouldn't mind the company."

"Sure," Autumn said, with smile towards Henry. Regina smiled and said, "Good, we'll look forward to seeing you."

Dinner finished without any hitches and Autumn soon found herself lying in the bed staring up at the ceiling. The room was rather nice; the walls painted white and the floor a light green carpet. The furniture was painted a sleek ivory and the bed was of white metal. The sheets were not as fluffy as Jefferson's, but the quilt was rather elaborately stitched. But Autumn didn't quite feel at home here. After all, she was sleeping in the same house as the evil queen. Part of her wanted to be elsewhere, even though that elsewhere no longer existed. Sighing, Autumn thought about something that both Henry and Regina brought up. Gold had been looking for her. A twinge of guilt filled her stomach as she thought of him. She hadn't intentionally meant to avoid him; she just couldn't help but feel guilty. His true love was being held in a basement of a hospital completely unknown to him, and she was essentially allowing Regina to do it.

Secrets were not new to her; in fact Autumn had a lot of them. But for some reason this one was ranking up her nerves by a ton. Perhaps it was because Belle was in danger as long as the queen had her that made it so nerve racking. Biting her lip, Autumn wondered how she was going to be able to communicate with Belle effectively. Learning sign language was one way. But it would take more time than Autumn could afford.

Suddenly, Autumn heard a small noise. It was like something had been dropped downstairs. Sitting up in bed, Autumn heard people moving about downstairs. The sounds got closer as time quickly clicked by and soon were climbing the stairs. Autumn glanced out the crack in the door and saw Graham and Regina together. The sheriff had his hands on her hips steering her down the hall while Regina was kissing his lips lightly. The smirk was all too apparent on her face as they disappeared into Regina's bedroom, leaving Autumn to watch in disgust.

Shutting the door, Autumn jumped back into the bed throwing the sheets above her head. So this is where he was going at night. Autumn didn't have any care in the world to know Regina's 'business' or anyone else's for that matter. But what was really pissing her off was that Regina wasn't even being careful about it with two kids in the house. Autumn shut her eyes, burying her head into the pillows.

It was bad enough that she had to deal with this at home; did she really have to deal with it here too?

S.C.

The woman waited nervously, staring up at her window hopefully. She wasn't sure when the girl was coming back. She hoped it wasn't when the doctors or nurse would come by. They didn't like her having guests. The only one that seemed to be allow was the woman with dark eyes, black eyes. She was horrible, smirking at her and occasionally mocking her… and she didn't even know why.

But this girl didn't do that. She seemed so sweet, checking up and making sure she was safe. However she couldn't speak to her through the thick window. She knew sign language but unfortunately the girl did not. Sighing, the woman paced back and forth nervously. Maybe she had gotten caught? Oh lord, she hoped not. Some of the doctors were just not pleasant and she would never forgive herself if that girl had been punished.

There was a knock at the window. The woman spun around and saw the girl sitting outside the window. The girl signed out alphabet letters, a bit clumsily. It took the woman a minute to figure out what she signed: Name.

Autumn watched as the woman climbed on the bench and leaned towards the window. The woman patiently spelled out her name: Belle French.

"Well there is a start," Autumn said, pulling out the pad on her lap just in case. Belle signed back: yours.

Autumn was confused a moment before she realized she was asking for her name. Autumn signed the letters for her name: A-U-T-U-M-N. Belle stared at her a while before smiling. She too signed a few letters: P-R-E-T-T-Y.

"Too bad it's not my real one," Autumn mumbled, her face flushing up a bit. Writing it out on the paper, Autumn pressed up against the glass the message: How long have you been here?

Belle frowned, her look becoming hazy. How long had it been? She couldn't even remember the day her father stuck her in here clearly let alone how many years it had been. Shaking her head, Belle signed out the letters: T-O-O-L-O-N-G.

Autumn put the pad down and signed out the word Why. Belle shrugged, shaking her head. Autumn watched her sadly before scribbling down on the piece of paper: I will find a way to get you out soon. I promise."

Belle seemed upset, shaking her head. But Autumn heard the swinging of the hospital backdoor and she scrambled to hind behind the dumpster. Autumn watched as the Nurse walked past her and towards the parking lot. Once she was sure the nurse had gone, Autumn hurried back towards the window. Belle's face was gone, much to Autumn's dismay. She knocked on the window, but Belle did not return. Sighing, Autumn decided to admit defeat for the day. Standing up, Autumn said, "I will be back. I promise."

S.C.

"Ow!"

The sheriff swore under his breath as he stumbled through the Forest. Thorns were woven into the tall plant life around him, scrapping his skin as he went. If he hadn't been so unnerved by the current situation, he would have been able to avoid them. But his mind was not on his surroundings, just the wolf that he had seen by his car. His head filled with memories that he couldn't quite explain. Being to walk again, Graham looked around for any signs of a trail. Much to his dismay, there was none. Turning around, Graham began to walk back quite dismayed.

"What are you doing out here?"

Graham looked up to see Autumn walking along the not so high cliff. Graham looked at her and said, "I'm looking for something… what are you doing here?"

Autumn lifted her bag and said, "Collecting some things I need. Are you looking for the wolf?"

"What?" his voice came out sharp and Autumn said, "If you lost him, you won't find him again until he comes for you."

"And how would you know that?" Graham watched her step down on the rocky steps and walked near him.

"I know that he's helped me out on occasion." Autumn gave him a gentle look with her blue eyes and said, "Come on, you should head back to town before you get lost."

"I-I won't get lost," Sheriff Graham said, shaking his head, "I know these woods well."

"Mhm," Autumn said as he followed her anyway, "So why are you out here?"

"I-I had a dream," he started, "About the wolf. And I was attacking this woman-she looked an awfully lot like Mary Margaret. But-But I think it's an actual memory-"

"Maybe it was," Autumn suggested, "When did you meet her?"

"I-," Graham froze, a confused expression growing on his face, "I don't remember."

"I see," Autumn said, continuing to walk which forced Graham to continue, "Well, if you think you don't remember, maybe it's time you talk with that other person. It might trigger something."

The forest began to thin out as they got closer to the town. Graham looked down at her and asked, "Autumn, do you believe in other lives?"

Looking at him, Autumn said with sincerity, "Depends on what you mean by other lives. I believe life is ever changing, never the same. The life I live now is completely different than the life I lived when I was six. So you can easily say that I was a completely different person then than I am now."

Autumn gaze never faded and Graham felt some kind of coolness run through him. Not the bad kind, but the calming type. For at least a moment, Graham felt something sooth him, give him clear thought. Clear enough to know what he now had to do. Patting her shoulder, he said, "Thank you."

He ran off then and there, leaving Autumn by herself. Smiling, Autumn began to walk again much more slowly. Hopefully that would send him on the right path. If not, she'd give some gently pokes in the right direction later. Finding the small beaten trail again, Autumn found herself walking along it at a reasonable pace. The bright white light from the early morning sun illuminated the forest, entrancing Autumn slightly.

"Well, well, what a lovely surprise."

Autumn spun around to see Gold walking behind her. He was wearing a green apron over his suit and held a shovel in his free hand. When he reached her, Autumn said, "What are you doing out here?"

"Spot of gardening," Gold said, "You?"

"Something similar," Autumn said, holding up the bag. Gold gently pushed her forward, indicating that they should walk. As they continued down the path, Gold said, "You've been out of town quite a bit. I was starting to think you were avoiding me."

"No," Autumn said, looking around, "I've had to take care of stuff at home."

"School work getting the better of you?" Mr. Gold chuckled and Autumn grumbled, "Like you have no idea."

"So dearie," Mr. Gold said as they left the forest, "Why don't you come to my house for a bit of tea. Warm yourself up from being out in the freezing cold."

"Sure," Autumn said, shrugging. Walking with him into town, Autumn looked up at him asking, "How does that not bother your leg?"

"It's more tolerable some days than others," Mr. Gold said, casually, "Today is one of the most tolerable days."

Autumn walked with him all the way to his house in silence. As Gold unlocked his door, Autumn couldn't help but wonder why he was being so quiet. Swinging the door open, Mr. Gold looked at her flicking his hand towards the door. Autumn went in before he could say anything and he followed. Autumn made her way to the kitchen as Gold shut his door. Dropping her bag near the chair, Autumn peeled off her coat. Resting it on the chair, Autumn felt a tickle in the back of her throat that developed into a cough. She had this cough on and off since the Moe French incident. Hearing Gold walk upstairs, she knew that he must be putting away his boots and other outdoor items.

Wandering around, she found herself looking around in his dining room. Staring into the cabinet, she saw various objects sitting neatly in the cabinet. He had so much stuff; he couldn't possibly use them all! But she knew that he kept these things for reasons beyond usage. Walking over to the window, she saw the side lawn. In staring out at the lawn, Autumn realized she had never been to the upstairs of his home.

"Anything interesting?"

Autumn looked back to see Mr. Gold watching her. Shaking her head, Autumn said, "Nothing really, just glad that it stopped raining."

"Yes, it's been a rather wet lately," Mr. Gold said, walking across the room, "It's rather bothersome since it is rather cold."

"Yeah," Autumn said taking a glance out the window. The tickle was back and Autumn cleared her throat lightly. Shaking her head, Autumn walked back into the kitchen as Gold prepared the tea. He finally set the kettle to boil, turning back to her. Autumn watched him as he sat down saying, "So dearie, how was your night at the queens?"

"It was alright," Autumn said, with a shrug, "She and Henry were going at it though."

"Really?" Gold said sitting down, "Sounds like Miss Swan's presence is aggravating the queen."

"Yes," Autumn said with a sigh, "I have a feeling something bad is about to happen."

"Don't worry," Mr. Gold said, "Miss Swan can hold her own. Now…"

He leaned forward with that smirk of his and said, "I believe you still owe me an answer."

Autumn blinked as Mr. Gold asked, "Your father, what did he do for a living?"

"He was a writer," Autumn said, her voice going soft, "He started off working for a magazine. After some time, he started writing books."

"What kind of books?" Mr. Gold asked, intrigued and Autumn said, "Children stories mostly. Probably because he was busy with me."

"Let me guess, you would read all of his stories?" Mr. Gold said with a grin. Shooting one back at him, Autumn said, "Yeah, I would often sneak into his study to read what he was writing when he was busy in a meeting."

"What about your mother?" Mr. Gold asked.

Autumn's face had a dark look cross it as she said, "I don't have one."

Mr. Gold noticed but let it slide. Her reaction surprised him a bit. He had never known Autumn to have such a look. That look went beyond anger, it was resentment and hatred. Hearing the kettle go off, Mr. Gold said standing up, "So I do have a question. Why is there so little on your file?"

"Huh?" Autumn said baffled. Mr. Gold fixed their tea as he spoke louder so she could hear, "There is a lot that should be in your records that isn't. No medical records, little bio information, no past addresses, and no birth certificate either."

Turning around, he extended her tea to her as he sat down. Autumn took it and said, "That's weird… I don't know why that is."

Mr. Gold stared at her quietly as she sipped her tea. If he had any issues with her answer, he didn't show or vocalize it. Kicking her legs gently, Autumn said, "Now it's my turn. You said you had a son, what happened to his mom?"

A bitter look crossed his face as he said softly, "She died I'm afraid. A long time ago."

"I'm sorry," Autumn said softly, "Was she the woman you loved?"

"No," Gold said, "I didn't love her like that… It was complicated."

"Ahhh," Autumn said nodding, "One of those kinds of things."

Mr. Gold didn't respond to that as he asked, "So what are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"Nothing much, I have to head home tonight to take care of things in the garden," Autumn said with a small smile, "Ruby wanted me to stop by later, said Granny wanted to see me this afternoon."

"I see," Mr. Gold said and Autumn asked, "Do you have to make your rounds today?"

"Not today, no," Mr. Gold said, drinking his own tea, "I do have some work to do in the shop today. Inventory mostly."

"I see," Autumn said, tucking her hair behind her ear. For some reason, Gold found him staring at her loose hair. It was chestnut brown, but had golden hues throughout. It was rather long, hanging down over her shoulders with her bangs pushed off to one side. He didn't know why it bothered him now, but it did.

"All these years of knowing you, and you've never once cut your hair," Mr. Gold said, before sipping his tea, "Why keep it so long?"

"I-," Autumn made a face and said, "I don't know. I guess it's just a hassle to cut it."

Mr. Gold chuckled and Autumn took the last sip of her tea. Putting her cup down, Autumn asked, "Why do you spend time with me?"

"Why?" Mr. Gold said, looking at Autumn with a strange expression, "Because you are quite the intriguing little one. You are the only person that doesn't put up with my ever so undesirable personality and yet still seems to enjoy my company."

"I would imagine sarcasm doesn't get your very far," Autumn said, with a small smile on her face.

"No, I imagine it doesn't," Mr. Gold said, "But what can I say, I'm a man to fear."

"Even without your lovely powers," Autumn said teasingly but then added seriously, "But powers or not, you don't scare me."

"Oh?" Mr. Gold said, "I never will understand why that is."

"Because," Autumn said, her voice going rather sincere, "I look at you and just see someone who's lost so much."

Mr. Gold was stunned. Her blue eyes were staring at him with an understanding that unsettled him. But he somehow managed a smile and said, tapping her nose with a very Rumpelstiltskin flourish of his hand, "Well… I see a child with a sense of wit, cleverness, and loyalty. A little to mysterious for her own good, but a cheerful little one."

Autumn almost gaped. Where did that come from? As she looked into his brown eyes, she flinched remembering someone that she no longer had. But she couldn't look away for the look in his eyes captured her interest. His eyes looked sincere and that rare gentle look that she knew was only for people he trusted. Or at least, that's what she hoped. But she wouldn't doubt this, not right now. Letting a small smile grace her lips, Autumn allowed that wall down for a brief moment. Gold didn't show it but he was shocked to see pain in their depths.

The question was why?

S.C.

"Henry!"

Autumn hurried towards Henry, as he sat on the castle all alone. The early morning sky was littered with pink and gold the fluffy clouds filling the sky. There was no wind, so the water was fairly still, the light rippling across the water. Despite the pretty morning, the air was so cold that one could see their breaths. Autumn looked fairly flushed in the face from running but looked happy.

Henry did not.

"Hey," Autumn climbed up on the castle next to him, "Sorry I didn't get here sooner. I just came back from the garden."

Henry didn't say anything, but staring out at the shore with a dead look on his face. Autumn's happy face had flickers of concern crossing it as she said, "What's wrong Henry?"

"…I think we need to stop Operation Cobra stuff for a while." Henry said, his voice thick with sadness.

"What?! Why?" Autumn asked, her voice sharp.

"Because," Henry said, his voice going from slow to fast as he talked, "Graham is dead. Graham remembered everything from Storybrooke and the evil queen found out and now she's killed him!"

Autumn watched her friend suddenly stand up. The Sheriff was gone… Autumn didn't know him well enough to be extremely sad, but she was upset that he was killed just as he was figuring out who he was. He walked over to the other side of the castle and Autumn said, her voice sad, "It's upsetting she killed him. He didn't really deserve that… But he would want us to continue. He saved Snow White, he would want us to keep fighting! Don't let all he's done go to waste, don't let her win!"

"She's already won!" Henry's voice was angry; he turned around staring her in the face. He was rigid and he was almost glaring at her. Autumn was surprised as he continued, "Evil always win! She doesn't have to play fair, we do; we don't stand a chance!"

"Yes we do!" Autumn shot back, determination creeping into her face, "Evil may not play fair, but they pay the price for that Henry! Evil, especially evil with magic, always has a weakness! Don't give up now, Henry, this just prove that Regina realizes that things aren't going her way! She realizes she's losing!"

"And she'll kill everyone that gets in her way," Henry snapped, "It's useless, Autumn, the curse is way too strong! It's just a waste of time!"

Slap.

Henry blinked to see Autumn's angry face staring him down. He touched the cheek she had just hit as she yelled, "Fine! Go ahead and give up! But I won't give up; I've already lost everything once, I won't lose it again!"

"Autumn," Henry said as she turned and jumped off the castle. A sense of panic set in. "Autumn!"

But Autumn didn't stop; Autumn didn't stop running until she had reached Jefferson's Manor. Jefferson heard the door slam and her running up the stairs. He was in a room filled with wood that was being stained with a gold molasses-like liquid. Putting down the stirrer, Jefferson watched Autumn storm in. Her eyes were glassy but she was not yet crying. She was angry, obviously, but just from knowing her Jefferson knew she was clearly hurt.

"What happened?"

"Henry," Autumn said, her voice filled with rage, "He's stopped, the queen-she's changed him!"

"Alison, calm down," Jefferson started, warning in his voice. Autumn didn't heed him as she said, "I can't believe this! That stupid evil witch is poisoning him!"

"Alison-!" Jefferson said louder but she barely seemed to notice.

"Why does she have to ruin everyone's happiness! Henry never did anything to her! I won't let Regina hurt him anymore, I hate her, I hate her, I hate her!" Autumn raged, tears escaping her eyes as she flung her arms around.

It happened in such a split moment that Autumn nearly didn't believe her eyes. Just as Autumn flung around, one of the pieces of wood in the corner of the room exploded into a million pieces. Jumping back, Autumn's anger instantly dissipated as she froze. Her extended hands were shaking as she staring at the broken tiny pieces. Covering her mouth, she backed up a few steps. Jefferson sighed lightly, walking over to her softly. Coming behind her as she tried formulating words, he hugged her gently. He then whispered into her ear, "Calm down…just calm down."

"Wha-Jefferson what did I-?" Autumn said, her voice trembling. Gently resting his chin on her head and said softly, "Don't worry, it's all coming back to you now. Just give it time…"

Jefferson stared at the broken pieces with a bittersweet smile and said, "Henry will come back, you'll see."