Pros of going home for the summer: free food (when someone goes bloody food shopping), free wifi (when someone plays the bloody bill) and my cats (no problems here they're perfect).

Cons of going home for the summer: You lovely people get a chapter I finished at 4:30 in the morning because I can't sleep with all these damn people going in and out of the living room I sleep in :) This is really just an idea I was tinkering (pun intended) with when I first began writing this story, so I thought now would be the time to incorporate it into the fic.

P.S. I'm sure some of you have heard of the wildfires in Greece. If you'd like to help, please try sending money and supplies to the Greece Red Cross.

-,-,-,-

The sound of muffled yelling greeted her as she reached Tink's floor. Her defensive instincts broke through her tiredness and she readied for a fight. As she turned the corner she was surprised to see Felix standing outside the door, pacing in small circles and chewing on one of his thumbnails.

Wendy's heart ceased its pounding when she saw that he wasn't in fight-mode like her, but her spine remained straight as she edged closer. They exchanged worried glances, the yelling behind Tink's door becoming more audible.

"We've been through this a thousand times, just leave me alone!"

"How dare you raise your voice at me!"

Wendy tensed at the sound unfamiliar and gritty female voice. Tink Le'Belle was beloved around town, even by Granny who was the closest thing to a rival she had. Who could she possible have as an enemy?

"I will raise my voice at whoever I want to! I'm twenty-three years old and you will not ever tell me what to do again!"

Wendy glanced at Felix, hoping he could relay an explanation to the commotion, but he looked too nervous to answer questions.

"You're living in sin with that boy!"

"Not this crap again!"

"Oh God." Felix moaned.

"Should we…intervene?" Wendy inquired as the two women continued to yell at each other.

"Absolutely not." Felix sighed. "My presence just makes things worst. Not to mention the last time I got in the middle of them I had one of my worst seizures to date."

"Who…" Before she could finish her question, the door burst open and a woman in a blue convent outfit stormed out of Tink's apartment, causing both Wendy and Felix to jump out of her path. She spared a look Wendy's way, but she paused to full-on glare at Felix, as if everything that the loud conversation that had occurred in Tink's apartment was somehow his fault.

Felix matched her glare, his sharp jaw clenching in an unforgiving line. He'd always looked so fragile to Wendy, pale and lanky. However, compared to the woman in blue, who's eyes were as hard as diamonds and spine as straight as a telephone pole, he seemed unabatingly powerful.

With a loud huff the woman stalked down the hallway to the stairs, leaving behind a confused Wendy and a seething Felix, who burst into Tink's apartment as soon as the woman was out of sight.

Wendy paused to listen to Felix's muffled apologies, her heart clenching when she heard a muffled feminine sob.

"She's always doing this." Tink cried quietly.

"We can still get a restraining order." Felix returned soothingly. "She can make sure she never comes near you again."

Wendy swallowed, feeling powerless, and for whatever reason, guilty. She was surrounded by so many mysteries and thus knew of no way to help anyone, especially the young woman who had been nothing but kind to her from day one. As she looked on at the comforting domestic scene in Tink's living room, she wondered if she could help at all. Felix seemed to be giving her all the relief she needed because he whispered something into her ear and she giggled softly, the tears on her cheeks drying into the lines of her smile.

Wendy managed a small smile, but her heart remained heavy and her curiosity peaked.

Tink finally noticed her presence and sat up, wiping her eyes and smiling brightly.

"Hey," she greeted. "How was your day?"

Oh god he's dead!

You and Jekyll?

This is my business, my life! Stay the hell out of it you nosy pest!"

He's my brother!

"Fine." Wendy lied, holding her breath when she caught a phantom whiff of corpse and woods. "Is…everything okay here?"

Tink rolled her eyes. "Just some crap from my past I can't seem to get away from."

Wendy nodded. She could certainly understand that.

Tink stood, rubbing her hands together as she fell back into her usual mode.

"You want to order in? Or I've got a frozen pizza in the freezer…"

"Actually," Wendy began, the subject she had wanted to bring up between her and Pan's rescue from the evil turkey and the car ride pushing back into her attention. "I was thinking I'd use the rest of the night…to gather my things."

"Oh…" Tink's smile fell some, and Felix gave her an odd look.

"Yeah," Wendy said, clenching and unclenching her hands. "I…had an experience today that helped me realize that I will be okay on my own. I think the bad karma's left."

Tink nodded, her smile sad but understanding.

"I hate to throw this on you now…" Wendy apologized.

"No! Not at all. This is a weekly occurrence." Tink laughed, though the sound was strained.

A moment of silence followed, not tense but still unwelcomed. Wendy couldn't understand why the lack of sound made her feel so nervous.

"I'll pull the car around." Felix suggested, bringing in just enough sound to ease the anxiety creeping through Wendy's mind. When the door closed behind him, Tink stood and offered to help Wendy pack.

It took little to no time to gather Wendy's toiletries (Wendy was ever the immaculate houseguest), however it took her and Tink a moment to find her clothes. The girls were about the same size and borrowed each other's clothing, which only now had become an issue.

"I can just come back for anything I leave." Wendy assured as Tink ruffled through her closet.

"No, it's that lace shirt, the one you made yourself? I'll never give it back if you leave it here."

Wendy nodded. The shirt was one she made back during her fabrication phase that had somehow survived despite the frail fabric.

Wendy turned and began going through her drawers. Her hands scaled through a cluster of t-shirts until her fingertips grazed something cold. She held her breath, praying that she didn't pull out something totally nonsensical like a gun or a sex toy. A quick peak assured her that it was neither of those things and she pulled the object out with a sigh of relief.

It took her a moment to understand what she was looking at. It was old and heavy, obviously some kind of silver that needed a good polish, with cloudy jewels running down the middle. It looked like an old cross, the ancient kind one would see in historic cemeteries, only this one was broken towards the bottom, as if it had been sawed in half.

"Please be careful with that!" Tink cried when she finally noticed Wendy. She took the object from Wendy's hand, holding it close to her chest. "It's really old."

"I can see that." Wendy said. "What is it?"

Tink placed the object on her dresser, running a finger down its cold metallic surface.

"It's part of a cross my parents left behind when they gave me up."

Wendy watched her friend, the information she just released hitting her immediately. Was there anyone in this town who didn't have a horrible family secret?

The way Tink had said it however wasn't necessarily sad, but accepting of the situation. Still, it made Wendy wonder what kind of parents could give up someone like Tink.

"I'm…sorry." Wendy said, unsure of what else she could say. "I didn't mean to pry."

"No, it's fine." Tink assured. "It's just…today brought up some bad memories."

"That women…" Wendy led.

Tink rolled her eyes. "The head nun from the convent. Mother Superior. More like Mother pain in my ass!"

Wendy calmed a growing smirk. "Is she technically your mother, or…"

"Surrogate, but just barely." Tink sat down on the end of her bed and Wendy took it as an invitation to join her. It was time for another story, it would seem.

"I was left on the doorstep of the nunnery shortly after I was born. According to my file I had some of my umbilical cord still attached."

Wendy gasped. "Oh my."

"The nuns took me in, raised me, and Mother Superior was there to monitor every waking second of my life."

A dark thought entered Wendy's mind and she hesitated only for a moment before voicing it.

"She didn't…do anything to you, did she?" To her surprise, Tink snorted in response.

"Geez Wendy Darling, get your head out of the Twilight Zone. You've been spending too much time around Pan."

"Tell me about it." Wendy muttered. "But back to you, why was she here earlier?"

"The same reason she always stops by: she's trying to get me to join the convent permanently."

Wendy blinked, trying to envision Tink in the same stuffy outfit Mother Superior had been wearing instead of her ripped jeans and green tank top. It just didn't seem plausible.

"At eighteen, any of the children who live at the convent get to choose to convert or go out on their own." Tink explained. "I chose to leave, and she's been trying to pull me back ever since."

"Why didn't you want to stay? Free rent, three meals a day. It might be a set routine but you'd never be without a home."

"That place was never a home." Tink said. "It was a building I lived in. Sure, there were good people in there, and I was never cold or hungry, but Mother Superior made it so constraining. I could never have friends or wear what I wanted. I couldn't even watch TV or listen to music! I'm the only person in town who didn't know who Lana del Rae was!"

Wendy chuckled but straightened up quickly. "You decided to leave and make your own decisions. Nothing wrong with that."

"Well it…wasn't just wanting to get out of the convent." Tink said with a small smile. "It was the people I met, Lily Tirgress, Pan…and Felix."

"Ah." Wendy smiled. "You fell in love."

"Well, not at first." Tink scoffed, leading both girls to laugh.

"Well, details." Wendy insisted.

"Let's see…I was home-schooled up until eighth grade. I wanted to live during my last years of school, so I begged Mother Superior to let me enroll, suggested a "religious" presence might influence the other students."

"Clever." Wendy commented.

"Believe it or not, it was Pan's suggestion, but that's a different story. Anyway, I was enrolled into Storybrooke High and smoking cigarettes in the girls' locker room by the third day."

Wendy laughed. Her high school experience involved her eating lunch in the library and becoming a legend after she nearly set the home economics room on fire when one of the sewing machines started smoking.

"By the time graduation came around, I was ready to permanently transition into the real world. Felix and I even discussed getting a place together before…" Tink paused, a painful glint flashing in her deep green eyes.

"What happened?" Wendy pressed carefully.

"Felix had his accident." Tink relayed, the words sounding heavy on her tongue. "His parents were killed and he spent a few months healing. It put a damper on our plans."

Wendy thought about the scar that ran over Felix's face. She had figured he had sustained it from an accident, but hadn't realized the severity of it's origins.

"Mother Superi-ass said it was God's punishment." Tink said, her voice hard as diamonds. "I was out of the convent in an hour."

Wendy thought of something to say. She and her girlfriends back home never had conversations this deep.

"Things…seem better now." She tested.

"They are." Tink agreed, her spirit's lifting. "I have a good job, a good boyfriend, and most days good friends when Pan isn't being an ass. I have a good life."

Wendy noted just a twinge of hesitation when she said the last bit, but her smile was convincing enough that she didn't press for more. Then again, why would she press for more? This was Tink's business, and details on her life should be given, not inquired upon.

Still, Wendy's natural curiosity was peaked, and she needed to leave before she asked anything Tink wasn't ready to share.

"You can keep the shirt." Wendy declared. "Consider it a thank you for…everything."

Tink blushed and nudged Wendy with her hip.

"Deal."

-,-,-,-,-

"Wendy?"

Something was touching her hair.

"Wendy!"

Something was pulling it.

The intern journalist just up from her desk, her mind going into an instant panic before her blurry surroundings became clearer.

Pan was standing at her desk, hands shoved in his pockets, revealing his innocence.

"God your hair looks awful."

Wendy sighed, her brain hardly awake to deal with his insults.

"Then I suggest you never cut yours this length. What do you want?"

"The janitor said you've been here since 4. Did Tink kick you out?"

Wendy shook her head as her heartbeat returned to its normal pace.

Upon her return to her apartment last night, she was met with instant regret with her brave decision to move back to her place. Every noise made her heart skip a beat and every shadow looked like it was coming towards her. She had kept all her lights on and had headed to the paper as soon as one of the janitors had come to unlock the doors at 4 a.m. She had meant to keep herself busy, but the second she had sat at her desk she crashed.

"I um…wanted to get started on the Jekyll story."

"Already wrote it. Come with me to the printers, give it a look." He stormed off before she could reply, giving her the chance to notice that his limp was nearly nonexistent now, though she could still see the ghosts of several scars he had accumulated in the last few weeks.

She followed him cautiously, recalling their last encounter. His coldness, and then his confusing revelation about Gold. Why had he done that, and what had he thought it would accomplish revealing to her?

What would it change between them?

She was barely in the room before Pan shoved a sheet of paper in her hands.

BODY OF FORMER MORTICIAN FOUND IN CAR

"Former mortician?" Wendy scoffed, her skin crawling. "That's much too nice for what he was."

Pan shrugged before busying himself with something. "Glass wouldn't let me use "Ex-sociopath dead, good riddance"."

Wendy hid a smile and read through the article, checking off the details in her head. It was cut and dry, omitting the details about how her and Pan were held captive in the car by a turkey. Coroner details provided that Jekyll had been killed the night he had held Wendy and Pan captive and that no fingerprints or other evidence had been found.

"Oh no." Wendy gasped when she got to the third paragraph.

"…with Jekyll's body being found on his property, Booth will be held for questioning..."

"Sheriff Graham doesn't really believe he had anything to do with it does he?" Wendy inquired out loud.

"Would he be in an interrogation if he didn't?" Pan snarked.

Wendy glared at him and laid the story down. "And you're not concerned? You two were…" Wendy stopped herself. Assuming that anyone was anything to Pan was dangerous, and really just an argument-starter.

"We were what?" Pan smirked, his eyes filled with a dangerous darkness.

Drop it.

"Something." Wendy breathed, the word flowing out so easily despite how hard she had tried to contain it.

The silence that followed her declaration was heavy, and shifted the possibility of peace for the two of them away.

Pan's glare was strong, but he gave no comeback, no insult or jab to her person. Because for once (as far as he was concerned at least) she was indeed correct. But not about August.

She had used that same word when she described Jekyll. Something.

He was something with everyone in his life, even to those he deemed dearer to him then most (but they would never know it).

They weren't lovers, or friends, and they sure as hell weren't family. Those words were too personal. They were just something.

But you're not just something, Wendy.

"If he's innocent, Graham will snuff it out and he'll be free."

Wendy shook her head, the idea that he was still pretending he didn't care astonishing her. She'd seen his vulnerable side enough times already.

Why is he still cutting me out?

"Whatever." Wendy sighed, shoving the story back to him. "I have something else I wanted to talk to you about anyway."

Pan paused, his stomach curling with anticipation. It had to be about Gold. Why the hell had he told her about him!

"Well?" Pan introduced, leaning against the desk casually while his heart drummed in his chest.

Wendy worried her lip, the subject she was about to approach having followed her home and distracted her from the darker parts of her mind.

"What do you know about Tink's parents?"

Pan blinked, the question catching him completely off guard. When the hell had Tink told her about that? And how had he not known that she had told her? He realized he hadn't spent a lot of time around them lately but…

"Why…do you want to know that?" Pan inquired quickly.

"So you do know something?"

"Perhaps, but answer my question first."

Wendy frowned, calling his bluff. "You know bullocks."

"Any knowledge I have is some that you do. That's…" he smirked. "something."

"Wanker." Wendy growled. But he had a point. He had roots in Storybrooke and knew where each one led.

"Fine." Wendy surrendered. "The…head nun came to Tink's apartment last night. She was really upset and then she brought up how she was abandoned at the convent. I thought maybe someone had to see something that night. Sheriff Graham wasn't even an officer then so…you're my only option. You…have a way of finding buried things."

"True." Pan agreed cockily. "But you might not want to go digging for this skeleton, little bird."

"And just why not?"

"Because it's too personal." Pan answered, his tone changing to genuine concern. "Not to mention if Tink wanted to know about her parents, she would have gone digging for the information when she turned 18. She didn't want to know then, and nothing's changed."

"You don't know that." Wendy retorted. "You didn't see her face. Maybe there's something else, information she wasn't given. Something I can find for her."

Pan's eyes lowered, and Wendy could only imagine what he was thinking.

"You mentioned yesterday that you and Glass came across records, in the library?"

"Yes." Wendy nodded. "He mentioned that it was the town's storage unit."

"Start there. The nuns keep crap there as well. Then check the newspaper archives."

Wendy nodded, smiling gratefully before turning to run out of the print room. "Thank you. Let Glass know I'm taking the day off."

"I'm not your fucking secretary!" he yelled after her, feeling surprisingly unfulfilled when she didn't respond.

The silence that followed her departure seeped into his mind, echoing, drumming his senses.

Oh no…

Not the quiet.

Pan grabbed as stack and printing paper and hurled it at the window. He breathed in relief when the clattering sound filled the room.

He quickly turned on the printer to fill the void, his mind racing as fast as the papers on the belt.

Wendy hadn't asked about Belle, or about their fight yesterday. She hadn't even wanted to continue talking about Jekyll or August or the rest of the filth they encountered on their latest adventure. Didn't she want to know?

Didn't she still care?

Why is she cutting me out?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Now that she was standing outside of the library where nine days ago she almost met a ghastly end, Wendy wondered if finding out Tink's past was worth the panic attack she felt coming on.

Police tape and a fresh lock closed off the door she and Glass had gone through during their research session. They had tried to solve the mystery of Belle's disappearance on their own, but all they had accomplished was another trip to the hospital.

Jekyll and Pinnock were dead, and the police force had raided their underground prison for more danger. There was nothing to be afraid of, yet she was still terrified. Maybe she should have asked Pan to come along. His company was better than the crippling silence that usually followed her around.

She turned on her cellphone flashlight, her hand shaking as she used the light to find a different entry. She wasn't even sure what to look for, or even if she would find anything at all. This town had so many secrets under its charming facade. Jekyll's was literally buried underground. She could only imagine where Tink's would lead her to.

Without much searching Wendy managed to find a window. Heavy from year of untreated rust, it took some effort to open and crawl through it, resulting in Wendy scrambling for a grip on the wall when her foot got caught in the window. With an annoyed huff, she snatched her foot forward, freeing her but causing her to fall face-first into the dusty library floor.

"Ow." she groaned as she pulled herself up, rubbing her chin from the impact. Otherwise unscathed, she picked herself up and shown her phone light around the room. She was surrounded by mountains of boxes, all covered in layers of dust and unmarked.

"Great." Wendy huffed. "This is going to take a while."

Four hours later, Wendy's hands were caked black and her nose was pink from sneezing so much. But, miracles of miracles, she had finally found a box of files from the year Tink was born.

She had the files spread out by month, squinting through the contents for anything to do with a found baby. She was relying solely on the light peeking through the boarded windows, her phone battery having gotten too low to support the flashlight any longer.

Finally, she found a file labeled "Convent infant: 1991" and Wendy hissed in self-congrats. She flipped the file open, her eyes instantly falling on a photo of an infant labeled "Margatink La'Belle". Wendy smiled at the picture of her friend, the idea that she was once small and helpless instead of the confident woman she was now.

She carefully through the details of the file, all of which was cut and dry and containing the same details Tink had described: a nun had heard her crying and found her on the steps of the convent. The nuns called the police but with the convent not having cameras at the time, the person (or people) who dropped Tink off remained unfound.

Wendy sighed when the information ended, leaving her in a dead end. Closing the file, she headed to the archives in the back, hoping any story that was published on the incident would have more information.

Her head was throbbing by the time she found articles from October 1991. There was mostly small-town drabbles, such as construction at the diner and new playground equipment. Wendy wondered briefly when exactly Storybrooke became as hectic as it had when she arrived.

A picture of a bundled baby caught Wendy's attention, and the headline caused her heart to pound with excitement.

NEWBORN BABY ABANDONED AT CONVENT

"Newborn…" Wendy mused, reading ahead.

Sister Corrine Blue, 17, discovered the abandoned infant shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday night. A doctor's analysis showed that the baby was just over a week old and still had an umbilical cord stomp in her belly button.

"Poor Tink." Wendy sighed.

The baby was abandoned with a wicker basket, flannel shirt, and a broken metal cross. The other half of the cross has yet to be located.

"We're very grateful that the child is healthy, and the Sisters of Saint Meissa will do everything to make her comfortable until social services decide on a plan of action." Blue said.

Wendy read through the article again, look carefully for other details that she may have missed the first time. The only addition information she found was a small article stating that the convent had been allowed to adopt her. It would seem that Tink's story ended there, but Wendy knew that it was the event leading up to her adoption into the convent that was most important.

After snapping photos of the pictures in the articles, she pulled out her notebook and began making a list of possible interviewees. Mother Superior was already at the top, being that she had taken responsibility for Tink's upbringing. If she found Tink, then she might have seen something else. Then, of course, was Sheriff Graham. He may not have been sheriff then, but he could still tell her who his predecessor was. And finally, the author of the article, Sydney Glass.

As Wendy ready through the list, another name came to mind. It was a long shot, but any information anyone could provide would help.

Especially if that particular person owned the town and knew every corner of its happenings.

Mr. Gold.

-,-,-,-

Part two is almost done, but damn if this chapter wasn't 8000+ words and bordering on 23 pages! It would have taken me months to edit!