A/N: Henry is how he appears in Season 7 all grown up. I do not own OUAT or their amazing characters. Enjoy! - BS

Chapter Two

Hope stepped back until her back hit the wall. "You're insane!" She exclaimed! "I don't have a brother, I don't have a family! You need to leave, now!"

Henry pulled a gift out of his black leather slide sling satchel and held it to her, arms outstretched.

"What the hell is that?" Hope asked angrily.

"It's for you," Henry said with a smile, "Happy Birthday Hope.".

She looked at Henry's hand, back at him and back at his hand again. "How do you know that?", She asked much calmer now.

"Because I am your brother silly," Henry stated. "I've been looking for you for a very long time. Can I please come in now? It's really cold."

Hope stepped aside letting him in, taking her birthday gift. She was in shock, she couldn't even remember the last time she had gotten a birthday gift from someone. Hook bound up to this new person, wagging his tail and licking his hands.

"What a cute dog!" Henry exclaimed, sitting on the floor to give Hook some belly rubs. "What's

his name?".

Hope couldn't help but smile. "His name is Hook." She stated, "I named him that since he is missing his front leg. I found him about a year ago curled up behind my car tire.".

Henry let a stifled giggle at the name.

"What's so funny?" Hope asked curiously.

Henry looked up at her grinning as Hook laid in his lap, obviously very approving of his new-found friend. "Nothing," He said, "You will see the irony in that soon enough."

Hope was confused by this statement but shook it off for the moment.

"So, Henry," She started, "You're my Brother?"

Henry stood from the floor and took a seat at the kitchen table.

"I am," He said. "Come sit. We have much to talk about and time is precious."

Ok, whatever the hell that meant. "What's the rush?" Hope asked him, "Are you hungry? I have some leftover lasagna if you want any."

"Sure," Henry answered, "That would be great thank you."

Hope cut him a slice and popped it in the microwave. She then grabbed a washcloth and

ran it under some warm water, wrung it out and joined Henry at the table where her present was waiting.

"Here," Hope offered the washcloth to Henry. "So, you can wipe the dirt and you know, blood off of your face."

Henry took the washcloth, smiling at Hope. "Thank you," He said. "I'm sure I was a frightening sight at your doorway."

Hope smiled at looked at her brother Wow, she thought to herself. My brother, I have a brother. Maybe the rest of her family was out there somewhere. Maybe, just maybe… Her thoughts were interrupted with the sound of the tea kettle going off, causing her to jump.

Henry look at her, head tilted in confusion. "Are you ok?" He asked, concern in his voice.

No one cared for her like that in a long time, if ever. "Yeah," she said. "I was just making hot cocoa before you got here. Would you like some?"

Henry smiled at her. Now that his face was clean, she could see the resemblance between them. "I would love some," He said beaming.

She started to walk back to the stove.

"Could you add cinnamon to mine please?" He added.

Hope stopped dead in her tracks, turned around a looked at him. "What did you say?" she asked him, her voice underlying with disbelief.

"Add cinnamon to mine please." He stated, his voice calm.

Hope turned back around to the stove. She had her hot cocoa the same way and she had never met another person in her life who like hot cocoa the same way, everyone including her usual baristas thought it was weird. She was blinking back tears, they had to be related. "Yeah, absolutely." She finally answered. "I drink mine the exact same way."

"It's a family thing trust me." Henry beamed.

Hope brought Henry his lasagna, and two cups of hot cocoa to the table. As he ate, she studied his face. Henry, who was obviously extremely hungry, was shoveling lasagna into his mouth. Feeling her gaze, he stopped for a moment, and looked at her, cheeks full. From this angle he reminded Hope of a chipmunk during winter, not sure where his next meal would come from. Henry swallowed his food with a large gulp and looked at his sister.

'What?" He asked curiously.

Hope giggled, "When was the last time you ate?"

Henry shrugged and looked down at his plate. "I'm not sure I think sometime yesterday." He said quietly. In an obvious hurry to change the subject, Henry took a sip of hot cocoa and looked at his sister. "So," Henry started. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me, but before we get into that tell me about you." He gazed seemed excited, and genuinely interested.

"Ok…" Hope hesitated. "What would you like to know?"

Henry was gleaming with excitement. "I want to know everything."

Hope didn't even know where to start. "Well" She took a deep breath. "I was at a convent in Bar Harbor, Maine until I was about 5 or 6, then I was in and out of foster homes, running away a few times and fighting my way through the system."

Henrys face dropped

"I graduated high school at 18 and left that day never looking back. I moved to Augusta and started working in a diner, trying to save up money to start school. I met a guy, fell in love got my heart broken after 4 years, and found my way here. I'm a student at NYU for criminal investigation and at night I work as a bail bondsperson." Hope was watching Henry. He looked so upset, but she wasn't sure why.

"Hope..." he started, obviously trying to find the words. "I'm so sorry. This isn't the way things were supposed to be."

Hope looked at him and shrugged. She took a long swig of cocoa and scratched Hook behind the ears, whose head was resting on her lap. "It is what it is."

Henry Was avoiding eye contact with her. He took a drink of coca and removed his jacket. There was a long silence between them, as both exchanged glances and smiles with each other. Taking another drink of cocoa, he finally seemed ready to talk, shaking his head he looked at Hope. "I just can't believe you are a bail bondsperson."

Hope looked at her brother with confusion, "Why is that so surprising? Is it cause I'm a girl?" Hope asked, her feistiness breaching the surface for a moment.

Henry snorted, "No, it's because that what our Mother did." Henry looked at her calmly.

Holy. Shit.

Holy shit! She knew that this job was in her blood. That's probably part of the reason she was so good at it. "Our mother?" Hope finally choked out.

Henry smiled at her grabbing her hand. "Yeah," He spoke softly. "You are so much like her it's scary."

Hope looked down at her hand. She normally didn't like it when people touched her, but with Henry, her big brother, it felt safe. "Can I ask you a question?" Hope asked quietly.

"Anything you want." Henry said taking another sip of cocoa.

"How did you find me?"

Henry looked down at this mug and back up at Hope. "Well, as I said, I have been looking for you for a long time." Henry started, "I started at the convent in Bar Harbor and tried to track you through your jobs, addresses, anything I could find. But you are good at covering your tracks" Henry paused a moment, "Just like mom."

Hope looked up at him, her green eyes filling with tears. Henry took another sip of cocoa. "But I finally got a hit, when your university published the dean's list in the newsletter. I was able to get an address from them and here I am."

He was searching for her? He cared? How did he know about the convent? Where were their parents? Her mind was racing. She had so many questions for him. They sat in silence for a few moments. Hope finally took a deep breath, "So why did you have blood on you? Where have you been? Can you tell me more about our mother?" Hope finally asked, breaking the tension.

Henry smiled at her, "We will get there. But first, I want you to open your birthday present. And while you do that I will refill our cocoa." Henry smiled at her and got up from the table.

After patting Hook on the head, he grabbed their mugs and headed to the kitchen. Hope looked down at the gift. It was an intricately wrapped rectangle with navy blue paper with gold swans on it. The ribbon was gold and glittery, like the ribbon you only find at Macy's during Christmas time. It was beautiful she almost didn't to open it.

Henry returned to the table. "What are you waiting for?" Henry asked. "It won't bite." Hope gave Henry a look and it stopped him cold for a minute, seeing how much she resembled Emma. Hope stuck her tongue out her brother and started opening her gift, unwrapping the most beautiful story book she had ever seen. The book was leather bound, and gold inlaid, the words Once Upon A Time scrolled across the front in gold and silver. The pages were heavy and felt like parchment.

Hope ran her fingers across the front, tracing every letter. She clung the book to her chest and felt a tear roll down her face.

"Henry," she said softly, "This is so incredible. Thank you so much." She wiped her face with the neck of her t shirt. "No one has ever given me a gift like this."

Henry smiled at his sister. "I'm glad you like it. You're going to need it."

What the hell did that mean? Hope looked at him very confused. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

Henry leaned forward, "No but you will," Henry took a deep breath and let out an even bigger sigh. "You see Hope, this book is special. The stories are kind of a history. The book changes and gets added to as the stories progress and more happens." Henry trailed off.

Hope was perplexed by him. What was he talking about? Henry was wringing his hands together. He finally looked at her, "Hope," he started "You're about to get your answers, all of them. But I need you to hear me out, all of it ok? This is going to be hard for you to believe." He looked up at her and all she saw was concern and worry on his face.

She looked at the clock, 1:30 am. "Ok," She said. "I don't have class tomorrow. I am going to make more cocoa for us, and you can tell me everything. But let's sit in the living room, it's more comfortable." Hope smiled at her brother. A faint smile cracked across Henry's face "Ok" he said.

Hope and Henry cleaned up the lasagna and made more hot cocoa. She kept glancing at her brother and was so happy he had found her. No matter how he managed it. Grabbing their mugs, the headed to the living room adjacent to the kitchen. Hope settles in her big arm chair, hook joining her on her lap, Henry on the couch caddy corner from her. She snuggled up in her blanket, the fireplace crackling in the background.

"Ok," Hope stated, "I'm ready." Henry hands her the story book. "This book is history, our history."

Hope stared and Henry and down at the book, running her hand over the book. She looked at him confused, but she did promise to hear him out all the way. Hope opened the cover, the pages even more beautiful than she imagined. On the inside cover, down in the corner was a symbol of a hook and a swan, the same symbol that is on her baby blanket.

What. The. Hell.

She looked up at Henry in shock. He leaned forward and grabbed her hand. "Hope please don't be afraid." Hope took a deep breath and squeezed his hand. No words, just shaking her head yes.

"Let's start at the beginning." Henry said. He took a deep breath.