"Wow Neal, so you helped rescue two kids out of a mine?! Talk about a first day! The only thing that happened on my first day was me nearly dropping Charlotte's order all over the place."

Neal laughed, leaning back in his chair as he held his phone in front of him, his adoptive sister's face on the screen. It was surprisingly empty in this part of the station, which he was thankful for given the topic of conversation. "Well firefighting and waitressing are two different jobs, and it's not like I was the one that went down there. But I'm sure something exciting will happen to you. You're still in the big city, remember?"

"Yeah yeah. Hey, Mama wanted to know if you've met your dad yet."

He shook his head. "No, not yet. I'm just gathering information right now. Seeing what he's all about, you know?"

"You find anything interesting out?"

"Not – "

"Hey! Neal! Where are you?!" Ali's voice suddenly cried out. "We've got a visitor you need to meet!"

Neal grinned a little. "In the library!" he called back, turning to the phone again. "Duty calls. I'll call you later Tiana."

"Talk to you later, Neal!"

Neal ended the FaceTime call with Tiana as Ali burst into the room.

"Come on slowpoke! Who the hell were you talking to all the way over here?" Ali said with a laugh. "Mayor Mills-Hood is here."

"My sister," he said, pausing. "The Mayor? Why is she here?"

"Did you miss the name? Mayor Mills-Hood. She comes to visit all the time when she has a break from work… and besides, she's the sheriff's mother-in-law," Ali said. "I think she brought a pan of her famous lasagna so let's hurry up before it's gone!"

Neal could only blink as Ali dragged him into the dining room.

"Ah! There you are Neal," Captain Hood said. "I'd like to introduce you to Regina Mills-Hood. My wife and the mayor of Storybrooke."

Neal's stomach twisted into an uncomfortable bundle of nerves as he held out his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Madam Mayor."

"And you as well. I just wanted to stop by and thank you for helping to save my grandson from the mines," Regina said, her polite smile dropping into a look of concern. "He's still in the hospital with some lung problems. I'm not sure if it was the smoke from when the tunnel started to collapse or something else but..."

Neal frowned. "I'm so sorry Mayor Mills. I hope he makes a quick recovery." The kid hadn't looked good when they'd pulled him out, and he hated to find out that his suspicion had been right.

Regina nodded a little. "Thank you for your concern Mr. Cassidy. The family truly does appreciate it," Regina let out a small sigh and rubbed at her arm. "My step-daughter hasn't slept all that well. I'm glad she has the support of the school and the community."

She looked around the station again and gave Neal another polite smile. "I won't keep you any longer. The boys here love the lasagna so you'd better hurry and grab a serving. I just wanted to say welcome to Storybrooke."

Neal nodded, letting out a breath when she turned and walked out of the station.

"Well that went better than I thought it would," Ali said, handing him a plate of the steaming lasagna. "You should've seen what happened when Jefferson met Mayor Mills for the first time."

"In my defense, my first time meeting her was at the hospital after we'd put out the fire at the cannery and we had people demanding information. No one warned me that she was the mayor!" Jefferson cut in with a scowl on his face. "It was my first day as well as Victor's so neither of us were prepared for that! We just thought she was a reporter!"

"Sure you did," Ali said with a roll of his eyes.

"Hey! Don't forget, I pulled your ass out of the mine when you were a student," Jefferson scowled.

That got Ali to shut up, and Neal had to hide his laughter behind a cough.

"Anyway… why don't we show you around town? Not that there's much to see but it's the least we could do for a new friend," Jefferson suggested.

"I'd like that. Thanks…" Neal replied with a smile.

The rest of the shift went off without much excitement, and before long, Neal was sandwiched between the two more experienced firefighters, wandering down the streets of Storybrooke.

Ali clapped his arm around Neal's shoulders, pointing at a building in the distance. "That's the animal shelter there. My girlfriend Jasmine works there. She's training to be a vet."

"I'm sure she'll become a great vet," Neal replied awkwardly. He'd only ever had one girlfriend, and it hadn't ended well when he'd caught her cheating the night of prom.

"And what about you, dear Neal? Don't you have a lovely girl or guy back in the Big Easy waiting for you to return?"

Was Jefferson reading his mind? Neal got the distinct feeling that Jefferson was reading his mind. Still, Jefferson and Ali were giving him matching curious, almost puppy dog-like looks, so Neal finally let out a sigh and shook his head.

"No. I'm single. Which is probably for the best, considering the move."

"Ah! Then you'll have plenty of fun in this town!" Jefferson said with a wide grin. "But really, you should find a date to the Fireman's Ball."

Neal furrowed his brow. "The what?"

"No one warned you about that? Honestly, it's like they dropped you in the deep end without any floaties! The Fireman's Ball is the biggest fundraiser for the department. Most of the town usually comes out to party with us. It's in two weeks," Jefferson explained. "The firefighters have the first dance, so everyone has a date."

"That sounds like something out of Harry Potter," Neal said with a slow blink.

"Well, maybe J.K Rowling just stole the idea for the Yule Ball from us."

Ali rolled his eyes. "Yeeeeeah, and I'm Stephen King." He turned to Neal then and gave him a grin. "A date isn't necessary, Neal, but Jefferson is right that most of the town shows up for it. Even if you don't have a date that night you'll be able to find someone to dance with there. But no, we don't get the first dance. Captain Hood and Mayor Mills-Hood do. Jefferson just has this strange habit of trying to play matchmaker for the town."

"Oh." Neal had to admit, he was a bit surprised. Most of the people that he knew that ever tried to play matchmaker were women. "Well I'm sure the Fireman's Ball will be a fun night regardless," he said with a smile.

Ali shrugged. "Truthfully, I think Jasmine enjoys it more than I do. I was never one to like to get dressed up and stuff but Jasmine grew up in that sort of world so she's used to it. I'd rather not have my shirt buttoned all the way up to my neck."

Neal laughed. "That's a fair point."

Ali grinned at him. "Seriously, don't worry about Jefferson. He's harmless. Usually." Ali ducked a playful smack from Jefferson before continuing. "C'mon, why don't we head to Granny's for dinner?"

"Ahh sorry I'd love to, but it's open house at the school and I have to go meet Grace's teachers," Jefferson said, smacking his forehead. "Pricilla and Victor would kill me if I was late. Even if Grace told me she doesn't want us there. I'll see you later."

"Pricilla? Grace?" Neal asked with a small frown as Jefferson wandered off down the street.

Ali nodded. "Pricilla is Jefferson's ex-wife. Grace is their daughter. The three of them have a great relationship so they all do the school stuff together. Even if it embarrasses Grace."

Neal laughed. "Just like any father would, right?"

Ali shrugged as they wandered into the diner and found a booth. "Wouldn't know, really. My dad was kind of… not the greatest guy in the world. He was a thief. Started bringing me up to be the same. One day he found out about the mines and heard that there could be gold or jewels or some bullshit like that down there. He was too big, so I went down. The mine closed in on me, like what happened the day you started here. Jefferson saved me. Took me under his wing. Dad was arrested and he's doing time in the state prison. I haven't seen him since. Frankly, I don't want to."

He stared at the man. "Shit Ali. I'm sorry, that's horrible."

"It's fine. It's in the past now."

Neal scratched the back of his neck before smiling gratefully as the blonde waitress stepped over to their table. Oh, it was the same waitress he'd had the day he'd arrived to town.

"Emma! I'm surprised you're working," Ali said with a small frown. "How's Robert?"

Emma only shrugged. "Spending time in the hospital gets to be a bit much. I can't really stand to be near my mom as she cries so much. Too depressing. At least I have school and work to take my mind off it all." Her face screwed up into one of distress. "You guys know what you want yet?"

"Chicken sandwich. You know how I like it. And a coke." Ali said immediately.

"Uh… I'll take a burger. Medium. With lettuce, tomato and grilled onions… with fries and a lemonade," Neal told her as her pen scribbled along the pad.

Emma nodded, giving them a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Sure. I'll get that right out for you guys."

Neal looked at Ali with a small frown as Emma walked over to the kitchen. "So… she's related to the kid we saved?"

"Yeah. Emma's the oldest of the Nolan family. There's three total – Emma, Robert and Eva. Good kids, all of them. When they aren't going down into the mines of course."

He snorted in amusement, and before long, Emma was back with the order, sliding the two plates in front of the men with a polite smile. "There you guys go. Anything else you need?"

Neal looked at the ketchup bottle she'd passed over to him and bit his lip. "Yeah actually, if it isn't too much trouble, I'd like a small side of mayo, if that's alright."

Emma gave him a more genuine smile, a small chuckle and a wink following. "It's not the weirdest thing anyone's ever asked me to get for them. This is no problem. Be right back."

When she returned, he grinned, taking the ketchup and squirting a fair amount of it in with the mayo. "Thanks Emma. Growing up in the Big Easy, you can't have fries without fry sauce." Of course, he knew this wouldn't even remotely compare to Tiana's, but it was better than nothing.

"Huh."

Neal looked up in surprise to find Emma still standing next to him. "Uh… something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong exactly. It's just… I haven't seen anyone in town mix mayo and ketchup mixed together except for Mr. Gold."

Her words shot through him like a blast of cold water, and he masked his shock with a sip of lemonade before trying to give her a casual shrug. "Well… Mr. Gold has good tastes then. Maybe's visited the Big Easy himself and got a taste for it," he said with a small shrug, busying himself with his fries again. "Thanks again Emma. Gives me a small comfort of New Orleans."

The blonde let out a soft giggle. "Well, you guys enjoy. I'll be back to check on you."

He wasn't sure what to make of this new information about his father at all, but it did give him a small bit of comfort to know that he had something in common with the man.

…And he had to admit, that little giggle Emma let out was pretty damn cute.

Zelena looked up from her book, listening and watching Neal Cassidy carefully. He did fit the basics as to what Baelfire Gold would be now nineteen years after his disappearance, but of course, it was very basic information… but the information about the ketchup-mayo combination could have been something.

It was a speck, but sometimes in the personal investigative business, all she had were specks. Sometimes they panned out, but many times they didn't.

She didn't often go out and do investigations of her own anymore, being a social worker with a handful of investigators of her own meant she was stuck with paperwork most of the time, but with Aiden Gold, it was different. Tumultuous as their relationship was, when it came to a missing child, Zelena Mills had promised to do her best to find him. Especially in the way Milah and Killian had just up and disappeared from the town.

So she observed, sipping at her tea and making small notes in her notebook, until the two firefighters departed, and then, when she knew no one else was looking, Zelena rose from her seat and slid Neal Cassidy's straw into the plastic bag she had on her.

Specks were nice, but if she could get a fire burning, well… that would be even better.

Slipping a tip on her table, Zelena quietly paid for her meal and made her way to her car, dialing a number on her phone as she did so.

"Yes?"

"Walsh my darling. I need a favor."

Walsh let out a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. "Well, that's never a good sign. What is it now?"

"I'm working a case for Aiden Gold."

"An even worse sign."

"It's his son. He's suspicious about the new firefighter."

"Oh? And what do you have cooked up in your head in order to help him, Zelena?"

"I have a straw Mr. Cassidy used. Will that be sufficient to get DNA off of?"

Zelena could hear Walsh's fingers tapping against a desk, the man letting out another sigh. "I'll try the straw, but you know it's easier when it's a lock of hair. But I'll do my best on it."

"I know you will, Walsh."

Ending the call, Zelena slipped her phone into her pocket and drove the short distance to the lab. Sure, it was shady, considering she could have just gone to the forensics lab that the sheriff used, but Walsh got results faster than them, with little red tape. For Zelena, it was better that way.

Especially when one was working for Aiden Gold.

Zelena slipped easily through the halls of the lab, giving Walsh a sly smile. "Hello darling," she said with a smirk. "Thanks for agreeing to see me on such short notice."

"I always make time for you, Zelena," Walsh replied, giving her a weary nod. "For this town's sake, I hope you've got something. The results should be in in about a month."

She bristled. "A month?! Walsh, you know this needs to be done faster than the police!"

"Yeah, I know that Zelena, but the police are kind of breathing down my neck right now so I need to be careful. I know this case is important. I know it involves Gold. But I can't put my life and career at risk like this."

Well, he had her there. Even though she was a private investigator, she was still at the mercy of David Nolan, and even though Robert was in the hospital and he'd be busy, that didn't stop him from making sure she was in line.

"Okay. Just tell me when the results are in," she relented, turning and making her way out of the office with a heavy sigh. She paused when she felt her phone buzz as she got to her car, eyes widening when she saw she had a text from her daughter, Margot. She'd been traveling for so long and Zelena hadn't seen her in months. Her heart thundered against her chest as she opened the text anxiously.

Hey Mom. I'm home.