Hello again!

I think this is my longest chapter yet, wow, but it's a good one! Keep in mind that this is basically a season 1 re-write so I wrote some of these characters as they were back in s1, not as they are now in almost-s4.

I hope you all enjoy reading this one; things start to get pretty damn interesting (or… evenmore interesting, depending on how you look at it).

I do not own Once Upon a Time, or any of its characters. However, I adore them as if they were my own.

Weeks went by and the two did not cross paths nor see each other. Not once. But just because they did not meet physically does not mean they did not think about each other. At random moments throughout the day, the image of the yellow buggy would pop in Scott's mind and his smile would snake its way into Emma's collection of thoughts. They'd both shake the ghosts of images away and continue on with what they were doing: Emma with her sheriff duties and Scott with his fishing.

Emma was busy filing away papers and having her lunch break one day when Regina Mills, the town mayor, burst in through the door.

"Sheriff Swan. I see you're enjoying your meal."

The sheriff stood up and wiped her hands on her jeans, ungraciously.

"Well I was, Madam Mayor. What brings you here?"

"Well, as it turns out, I was doing a bit of research and I heard that there was some unruly activity down by the lake earlier this week."

"Yeah, so?" Emma said as she raised an eyebrow and tucked her hands in her back pockets, dreading where this was going.

"It was graffiti! On public property! And you didn't do anything about it, did you?"

"I let them go. It isn't really an 'unruly' act if so many other people have done it before and they haven't been caught. That wouldn't be fair, now would it?"

Regina looked appalled and shocked, stepping closer to Emma while staring her down.

"Miss Swan, I don't care whether it is fair or not. They should've been taken in. I'm going to let this one slide but next time? That little star badge of yours will belong to me and you will be revoked of your position. Got it?"

Emma ground her teeth together to refrain from screaming at Regina. She took a deep breath and did not peel her eyes away from the mayor's at any second.

"Understood, Regina."

"Excuse me?"

"Madam Mayor." She corrected, while narrowing her eyes at her.

"That's more like it. And don't forget what I said."

With that, Regina left the Sheriff's Department and shut the door with a bang that made Emma flinch. Emma sighed angrily and sat back down grumbling to herself about how rude the mayor had been. Then looked at her half eaten sandwich and decided to continue with her lunch.

On the other side of town, Scott had finished with catch earlier than most days so he decided to drive over to Leroy's, considering the town's owner, Mr. Gold, would be there to discuss some matters with them.

Wonderful, he thought. 'Discussing matters' never meant anything good with that sour old bloke. The only thing that kept him from being too sour was his girlfriend, Lacey. God knows what was going on through that girl's head when she became his.

Scott knew Lacey from a while back. They had met playing pool one night at the local bar. He thought he could beat her, but this girl put up a good fight. She was a very intelligent lass but just not the right one for him. It was a good friendship, however. Lacey would recommend books for him to read and he would give her advice on how to deal with Mr. Gold and his bad moods, all while they drank beer on Friday nights.

He parked in front of Mr. Gold's pawn shop and opened the door, a bell chiming as he entered. Leroy waved from the counter in the back.

"Scott."

"Leroy. What'd he want?"

"I know about as much as you, kid. Nothing."

"Guess we'll have to find out."

A few minutes later, Mr. Gold pops out from the back, cane in hand and a thick Scottish accent dancing on his words as he greeted them.

"Hello, gentlemen."

The two nodded.

"You might be wondering why you're here."

"Ain't that the truth," Leroy whispered to Scott, whom couldn't disguise his almost-snort at his co-worker's words.

Gold pretended not to hear them and went on to explaining.

"I'm making an expansion of my pawn shop and of course, I require money. Money that I will need from the two of you."

Scott lowered his eyebrows, squaring his jaw. Leroy's mouth dropped open.

"WHAT?" they said simultaneously.

"I said: I would be needing money from the two of you. You two are getting more than what you should for your jobs, so I'm cutting back on your profits."

Scott went into a blind fury, spewing out words before he could stop himself, which was one of his worst habits.

"But that's all the money I have! I rely on that money to get by, Mr. Gold. Why can't you take it out of someone else's pay? Last time I checked, I'm the only bloody fisherman in this town. For fuck's sake, I'm the only bloody person who goes out and gets fish so that the population of this town gets their fair share of food. Get that through your thick head, will ya?"

Mr. Gold stayed quiet. Too quiet. He sighed and said,

"I've made my decision and so has the mayor. And you can't argue with her. So it's been decided. You'll be losing half of what you were receiving before until further notice. No further arguments please, Knight."

The bastard had the nerve to smile and tell them, "Have a nice day." Scott balled his hands into fists and stormed out of the building. As childish as it sounded, he was going to have his revenge somehow. And it was going to happen tonight.

He waited until nightfall, until after Mr. Gold had left the pawnshop. Then Scott walked up to the door and smashed the glass with his trusty old fishing rod. He put his hand through the broken glass and unlocked the door then stepped inside. Once reaching past the counter, into Mr. Gold's little safe haven in the back, he found his safe.

"Oh wonderful, old man. Next time be more careful with where you leave your money." He murmured to himself as he opened the drawer and saw the combination written at the bottom of it.

10…21…05…

Click. The safe's open and he took the amount of money that he normally would receive and shut the safe again. By the time Scott walked out of the back, an alarm went off.

"Bloody hell"

"Bloody hell, indeed, Mr. Knight." A cold voice said. He slowly turned around. Mr. Gold stood there, pointing his cane at him.

"That alarm is perfectly heard at the Mayor's and the authorities. They'll be here any moment. Now hand over the money."

Scott thought about it and then took off running past Mr. Gold and out the broken door. He kept running, forgetting about his car until he heard another engine zooming toward him. Then footsteps came charging at him and a thud against his head.

He fell back on the ground as two hands roughly picked up the money he had dropped and another silhouette approached his body on the ground. Judging by the curves of the shadow, it was a woman. Wait…

Please don't let it be who I think it is, he pleaded internally.

"What the hell?" a female voice said. Yup, It was her. "Mr. Gold, get back here and explain what just happened."

"The young man broke into my store and stole some money. Why? I do not know."

"Because you took half my pay for some stupid reparations. And hit my head with your bloody cane! Was that necessary?" Scott spat back harshly, his head pounding. At that instant, Emma gasped, realizing whom she had been chasing.

"Scott?"

"Hello, lass. Been a while, hasn't it?"

Mr. Gold cut in, "You two know each other?"

"Barely," she scoffed. "His battery died one night and I jump started his car. That was it."

"And you agreed to have what was it? Oh, hot chocolate with me."

The old man frowned and looked at Emma, while she glared at Scott and mouthed, "Not helping!" to him. Scott tried to hold back his laughter. He had to admit, she was feisty. He liked that about her. Then he looked into her eyes and suddenly remembered the dream he had had.

It would bring out those emerald gems you have for eyes, lass…

He was shaken out of his reverie when he heard her telling him to get up and he obeyed. She pulled out handcuffs.

"You're under arrest, Scott." When her hand gripped his wrist, she felt a jolt of electricity shook up her arm. He had felt it too but alas, the two wondered if the other felt it as they looked into each other's eyes for the first time. Emma nodded once,

"Get in the bug. You're sleeping in the cell tonight."

"Oh lovely…" he mumbled.

"Should've thought of that before breaking, entering and stealing cash. But don't explain now. Explain tomorrow morning. Too tired now for anything, Scott. I'm sorry."

She genuinely sounded sorry and upset at the situation. Deep down, he had hoped they would see each other again but he never thought it would involve handcuffs and a throbbing headache.