Again guys thanks for all the support for this story, it has been an extremely tough one for me to write. I know how long it's been but my final year of high school has kicked me hard and I had to prioritise what was more important. The good news however is that after November I'm done with high school and I can safely say that I'll have nothing better to do than write for most of it.

I've said this before but I think I'll say it again, the first season in this story is going to be nearly the same and by nearly I mean that there are sufficient changes from the original work that will keep you reeled in. Some changes I have seen done before but there are characters storylines that I am completely redoing.

Thanks for all keeping up with me. Reviews are always thoughtful, it's selfish to say that I often feel inspired by the more support I receive because I know how many readers are out there who are quite readers.

Once again, I don't own Once Upon A Time.

Emma's walk didn't lead her very far, nor was it where she intended to go. She should have just asked Mary Margret when she had the chance but knowing that Henry though that Mary Margret was Snow White and that she was her… mother, it was just too weird. So, she now stood outside the town's library. Contemplating whether or not she should ask Killian about Henry's therapist or not. It's entirely possible that Killian didn't know anything about it and that Emma was exposing something that should well stay a secret, although Regina seemed contempt on sharing the information to strangers. Which was now another reason that Emma placed in the 'Stay in Storybrooke' tally. But Emma felt as though she could trust Killian in this regrade, he cared about Henry. A lot. And Emma knew that he wouldn't say anything to anyone that could come back to harm Henry later on. So, Emma pushed the door open.

Having the library door open not once, not twice but three times in the same morning for three different people, was something unheard of. And Killian would attest that it had everything to do later with Emma Swan.

"My, my Miss Swan," Killian started pleasantly, "I thought that I would have to be the one to seek you out. You're just full of surprises."

"Believe me," Emma started. "I didn't intend on coming here."

"I do hope you intend of making a habit out of it," Killian smiled, offering Emma one of the only other chairs in the library. After Henry started showing up, Killian thought it best to start making the library a little more hospitable so Henry or himself weren't sitting on the floor the entire time.

Emma made her way over the room, plopping herself down in the chair before crossing over her hands on her lap.

Killian leaned back, his right hand absently stroking Figaro as the two sat in still silence, letting each other read the other.

"So," Emma began. "Who exactly are you?"

Killian quirked an eyebrow in response. A smirk tickled at the edge of his lips, "That certainly is a loaded question, darling."

Emma almost rolled her eyes. Cocky son of a…

"You and Henry," Emma cleared her throat. "You two seem close."

Killian stilled his hand, screwing his eyebrows. "What is that you're implying there?"

Emma continued to look at Killian with intensity in her green orbs, scanning every detail that flicked across his face, noticing the shift from flirty to seriousness in a heartbeat. Emma sighed, "What I meant was that he doesn't seem social, he doesn't play with other kids and his first thought is to go to Boston without asking his own mother."

Killian rubbed the back of his ear, "Henry… is different," Killian started. "What he needs in this world is someone who believes in him, that encourages him to have hope. He doesn't have a lot of people in his life that will listen to him without telling him that he shouldn't believe in the stuff that he believes in." Killian sighed then, "Henry reminds me of myself when I was his age, having no one be there for you when you need them to be."

As Killian spoke, Emma thought for a moment she was listening to herself speak. She looked at Killian and saw an orphan, she saw herself.

"Which is why, I think you can understand why Henry needs this," Killian said. "Because you know what that's like."

Something cracked within Emma then, it was small. A hairline fracture in her walls, barely noticeable without close inspection.

"How would you know?" Emma asked coolly, because despite noticing that hairline fracture she knew how to mask feelings well.

"Open book," Killian simply replied. Emma didn't miss the irony.

Emma simply smiled in return. Play it off and maybe they don't notice how close that hairline fracture comes to being a break. Then you work on the repairs, strengthen the walls so it doesn't fracture so easily the next time. Set and repeat.

"I actually came to ask you about Henry's therapist."

"Archie Hopper," Killian replied. "Although what Henry needs doesn't involve therapy, what he needs is for Regina to stop judging him but Archie is understanding. You'll find him here." Killian scrawled down an address.

"Watch out for yourself there, Swan. Henry didn't just come up with the idea of Regina being the Evil Queen on a whim, she finds your snooping into her affairs she may very well put a curse on you," Killian chuckled, although Emma could very well see the warning Killian gave her.

"I can take care of myself," Emma grabbed the note from Killian.

"I would never doubt that," Killian said. "But overconfidence never benefitted anyone."

"Maybe you should take your own advice on that one," Emma smirked at the shocked look on Killian's face before taking her leave.

Emma had no idea why but with this librarian, if that was even his real job he most likely just used the sexy librarian get up to flirt, she felt oddly open. She felt as though he could crawl under her skin and unravel her. She didn't know how or who exactly Killian Jones was but she was intrigued despite herself.

Sidney was absolutely useless. Why she even kept him around anymore is beyond her, he was more annoying than anything else. And Emma only made Regina's mood fouler than usual. However, Regina believe she had gotten the upper-hand in that little confrontation. After all, later in the evening Regina would be making a very concerned phone call to Dr. Hopper about Henry's welfare and she knew exactly what that little cricket will chirp.

Even if Sidney was unable to find anything useful to use against Emma, to prove to Henry that Emma was a terrible person, that only she knew what was best for him, she was sure that stealing confidential files was incriminating enough.

Flash. Turn right please. Flash. Turn left. Flash.

Honestly, how shitty did Emma's life get to now having her mugshots. Twice now. The first time it happened, Emma was broken, ashamed of trusting- of loving someone so blindly that she allowed them to hurt her. Now, that shame was different. Although she knew she hadn't done anything wrong, her mind wandered to what Henry would think, if he believed all the lies that Regina would fill him. If she hasn't already regaled to Henry how awful his birth mother was, as Emma was sure she had done as soon as she had sicked Graham on her.

"The shrinks lying," Emma sighed, cocking her head at Graham. Having someone like Killian here would probably be useful, he'd probably say something in her defence. "You know that right."

"To the right, please," Graham instructed her. He really did want to believe Emma. She seemed nice enough and he'd be remiss if he said that she wasn't good around Henry but Graham knew nothing about her.

"The Mayor put him up to this," Emma said. Her mind was flicking through various thoughts. "She's got to have something on him. He's terrified of her like everyone else in this…town." Except maybe one person… Or two, if Emma included Mr Gold, she guessed that someone like Mr Gold feared very little.

"To the left," Graham said. "Regina may be a touch intimidating, but I don't think she'd go as far as a frame job."

But, Emma believed, she would go that far. Emma looks at Regina and she can see it. The willingness to go to extremes to get what she wanted. "How far would she go?" Emma pondered. "What does she have her hands in?"

Graham coughed nervously, "Well, she's the Mayor," He replied and then resistantly added, "She has her hands in everything."

If Graham thought Emma hadn't noticed that tic, the way he resistated. "Including the police force?"

Before Graham could reply to that comment Henry ran into the police station, following meekly was Mary Margret.

"Hey!" Henry exclaimed, what surprised Emma was that he didn't seemed phased that she, herself, was in handcuffs.

"Henry!" Graham turned, stunned for a brief moment at the intrusion. "Henry, what are you doing here?"

"His mother told him what happened," Mary Margret said, sending a sympathetic look towards Emma as though apologising on Regina's behalf.

"Of course she did," Emma grumbled. She should've know that Regina wouldn't miss the opportunity to have Henry witness his birth mother in this state and it only made Emma resent the woman more. Not because of what Regina was doing to Emma, but because she was doing this intentionally to Henry. And that was something a mother should never do.

"Henry," Emma started. "I don't know what she said-"

"You're a genius!" Henry exclaimed at her.

"What?" Emma looked at him dumbfounded. Out of all the things she had expected to hear about being arrested, she was sure she would never hear the term 'genius'.

"I know what you were up to," Henry continued. "You were gathering intel for Operation Cobra."

Graham raised his eyebrows, looking to Emma and then back at Henry, "I'm sorry," He shook his head. "I'm a bit lost."

"It's need to know, Sheriff," Henry stated seriously. "And all you need to know is that Miss Blanchard's going to bail her out."

Emma almost had to steady herself, "You are?" Emma asked, disbelief evident in her voice. "Why?"

It seemed that Mary Margret herself needed to think about it before coming up with the only true reason she could think of. "I, uh, trust you," And for Mary Margret it was that simple.

But for Emma, well, for Emma it had never been that simple. Strangers never just trusted one another, especially not enough to bail them out of jail. She'd only been in Storybrooke for only day truly and she felt floored with emotions. With Henry's fairy tales. With Killian's ability to see through her walls. And now, now it was Mary Margret trusting her.

Emma closed her eyes and sighed, reopening them moments later. Later. She can deal with this later.

"Well," Emma turned to Graham, raising her cuffed hands and looking at him expectantly. "If you can uncuff me, I have something to do."

Graham almost sighed. Regina wasn't going to like this.

Now, Emma thought, it's my turn, because you have no idea what I'm capable of.

Ruby, despite Granny's glares, had opted for a small lunch break after lunch hour, in fact it was now quarter past three. Killian had come in her a quick bite from the library and the two now sat conversing at one of the tables. Killian was too busy regaling one of his stories about the time Graham had to come get him, Will and Leroy from the pub after a particularly long night of 'Never have I ever' to notice Ruby's attention had been redirected solely to something going on outside.

"Killy, hold the episode of 'Drunken Tales'," Ruby paused him with a raise of her hand, earning her a confused look on Killian's behalf. Killian was about to protest when Ruby continued, "What the hell is Emma doing with a chainsaw?"

Now that caught Killian's attention. He swivelled around on his chair to see a very determined Swan placing a chainsaw into her yellow bug taking off before Killian had the opportunity to catch her attention. Killian watched as Emma as she left.

"Now that," Killian started. "Seems like a far more interesting tale that I must ask her about."

Ruby watched him intently, watching as his smile lingered a little longer than usually. The way the creases around his eyes illuminated this smile, intensified it. She'd been joking around the other night, she knew when her brother took a fancy with someone but she hadn't seen him smile like this before with another woman.

"You have a crush on her," Ruby said, taking a single bite of a fry from the platter they had order.

Killian's head had whipped to her so fast that Ruby wouldn't be surprise that he'd gotten whiplash from it. "What?" He asked ludicrously.

"Come on," Ruby groaned. "It's obvious Killy."

"Ruby, you know me when I fancy a woman," Killian affirmed. "This isn't something you haven't seen before."

"No, this," Ruby signalled to Killian, "This is more than that, I've never seen you smile like that with someone you just 'fancy'."

"Ruby," Killian chuckled, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Ruby shook her head. God, her brother could be stubborn when he wanted to be. They had continued to converse about various things, Killian inquiring into what or more importantly who she was spending her night off with, she'd taking a liking to one of the fishermen recently. While Killian knew that Ruby was her own free spirit, he still was over protective of her and Ruby was the same with Killian. Even though Ruby saw the first signs of Killian falling in love with this Emma Swan, she only hoped that the same was happening with Emma and that she wouldn't break her brother's heart if she didn't.

Emma knew that she should feel at least anxious, after all she did just make a pretty bold statement against Regina but at the moment she was going to pretend that she got the upper-hand on Regina. Even if subconsciously she knew that Regina wouldn't give up just because Emma took a chainsaw to her 'prized' apple tree.

So, after the day she had all she wanted to do was go back to her room and relax

"Miss Swan. Oh my, this is terribly awkward," Granny who was standing in the doorway of Emma's room started. Killian unbeknownst to either woman had just walked into the hallway. "Uh, I need to ask you to leave.

Killian scrunched his eyebrows in disbelief before walking up to Granny, "Gran, you can't be serious!"

Granny looked at both Killian and Emma with sympathy, "I'm sorry, we have a 'no felons' rule. It… it turns out it's a city ordinance."

Killian gave her a look, in turn Emma gave him the 'I'll tell you later' look. Emma rolled her eyes, "Let me guess – the Mayor's office just called to remind you."

"Gran, come on," Killian argued. "You can't just let Regina order you around."

"Killy, there's nothing I can do," Granny said sternly, however, he could tell she was regretful that she was having to do this. "You can gather your things, but I need to have your room key back."

Emma sighed, handing back her room key. Granny gave a small smile, trying to convey her sympathies before leaving. Emma walked over to the chair and slumped in it, Killian taking it as his queue to walk in and take a sit on the bed. "So, this sudden power play by Regina wouldn't have anything to do with you and that chainsaw earlier, would it?"

"Let's just say that apples were never my favourite fruit," Emma gave him a smirk, even if she was effectively getting kicked out of her place she still would treasure the look on Regina's face.

"Oh, Emma you didn't," Killian said in complete disbelief, his smile widening to an almost Cheshire grin. "If I'd known you were going apple picking I would've joined you."

"Thanks, but I think I got the message across by myself," Emma snorted, contemplating on the idea.

"Clearly," Killian replied. "As the Mayor has quite effectively kicked you out of Granny's in retaliation."

"Yeah," Emma groaned, "Now I have to try and find somewhere else to sleep for the night."

"Well there is always enough room next to me in my bed," Killian let his eyes trail her up and down.

"I'm sure you say that to all the girls you want to sleep with," Emma teased, conscious of the fact that Killian was checking her out.

"Just the ones who are strikingly beautiful," Killian said, although his tone had somewhat become more serious, even if his face was still playfully flirtatious.

Emma almost rolled her eyes. Almost. Because he was just being flirty, that was all. He didn't mean anything by it. Even if she felt a little light headed at the idea that Killian thought she was beautiful. It was stupid. She was being a naïve teenager… again. And she knows she shouldn't be letting that happen again.

So, in the goal of completely ignoring the distraction which was Killian Jones, "Right," Emma nodded, baffled on how to reply but needing to get away from this situation. "I need to apparently start looking for another place to sleep for the night."

"Mary Margret has a spare room," Killian piped up, before getting up and heading for the doorway. "Just so you know."

Emma paused as she got up to pack her things, giving Killian a thoughtful nod before he left. She didn't want to admit that every time she met him, that she felt… good. She noticed that that cat, Figaro she believed Killian had called it once in passing, had mysteriously showed up in the room and had chosen to stay instead of following Killian as it usually did. She eyed the cat thoughtfully and for a brief second, she felt the cat looking straight back at her, as if… as if it too was contemplating her.

Mr Gold had taken notice of the… budding relationship the pirate and Miss Swan were developing. It seems the man was capable of caring a great deal about her and her son. And that presented a unique situation for himself. While he knew that he would have had to eventual deal with the pirate once the curse had broken before he could find his son, however, if Miss Swan got in the way… it would certainly make the matter complicated.

For now, Mr Gold would wait to see what the future could bring. When Miss Swan succeeded in breaking the curse, and she will, nothing would stand in his way of finding his son. Not even this pirate would be able to trick his way of death.

And Regina, well Regina certainly suspected something if their recent meeting today was any indication. He had no doubt that she would come to him again, asking a favour of course, to get rid of Miss Swan. Which would only be counterproductive to his plans. So, he would have to be crafty, work around and find the loophole… and if people got hurt in the process, well, it would only give Miss Swan further motive to fight. Yes, Mr Gold thought gleefully, he would certainly enjoy this.

Thanks for reading lovely people. I've needed this outlet of writing this story recently and it means a lot that I can share it with you guys.

Review, favourite and follow. I appreciate it a lot and until next time.

#UPDATE#

I reuploaded this chapter due to it missing a big chunk of its original content. It should be fine now.