HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN! So I decided to do something special for you since this is technically your first birthday that I've been friends with you so, with a lot of help from some friends, we wrote you a bunch of mini fics to one shots to ficlets on a whole range of your favorite Once characters. Have an absolutely fantastic, amazing, awesome, hilarious magical birthday you lovely lady. You absolutely deserve it you Emma Swan you ;) Hope you like them!

24. The town had always been hidden from plain view. But now, they're out in the open and the government wants answers. What will it take to keep everyone safe?

Written by: Saskia

"We're arriving at the town line now, about to cross. Brace for impact," Ted Dallas spoke quickly into the radio as the men in the back of the FBI van prepared themselves to cross into Storybrooke. There was a flash and then… the car continued to go forward, and Ted thanked his lucky stars that nothing else had happened. The men in the back whopped and cheered as they passed the "Welcome to Storybrooke" sign.

"Got ya," the dark smile that crossed Ted's face was a sign of things to come for the inhabitants of the small Maine town.

"Mom, Dad?" Emma turned from the door, wide eyed. She still looked half awake in her duckling decorated pyjamas as Charming put a hand on her back.

"What is it Emma?" Charming asked, feeling his wife lace their fingers together with his other hand. Emma opened the door wider to reveal some official looking men in suits and wearing badges. Ted smiled widely and introduced himself and the rest of his unit.

"Unfortunately we're going to all have to ask you to come with us," Ted didn't look the least bit sorry, and Emma could feel nerves clawing at her stomach. When he drew back his jacket to reveal a gun in his holster the entire family turned to look at each other before walking out the door and towards the sheriff station.

"Are the cells really necessary?" Emma asked, rolling her eyes as her father, Henry and her all sat in one of the sheriff station's cells.

"Well cowgirl sorry to say but yes, and besides I have a feeling this ain't your first rodeo," Frank (Ted's right hand man) smiled seductively at Emma before Charming stepped in front of her.

"Next time you won't be able to see straight if you talk to my daughter like that," Charming clenched his fists at his side, and Emma smiled from where she sat on the hard stone bench. Frank simply chuckled before returning to one of the desks and putting his feet up on it. As he did, a picture frame fell over and cracked on the ground. The man raised his eye brows before turning the picture around.

"Well looky here, who is this?" Frank held up the frame and Emma felt tears brim. It was the only picture she had of Graham. She had brought in a camera to the office during a relaxed day and he had flashed her a goofy smile, which she was all too happy to have developed. She could see the light dancing in his eyes; and the memories of his death were still fresh in Emma's mind. Frank, clearly seeing he had struck a chord, slipped it into his pocket for future use.

"Don't you dare wreck that," Emma snarled, trying desperately to reach through the bars. Frank laughed before walking out of the room and towards the interrogation room, where he could hear the men hard pressing the older, raven haired woman for answers…

"Tell us about the town. Are you all good friends?" Ted was taking a more stand off approach in talking to the darker haired woman. He had a hunch he knew just who this woman was, but he did not want to push it. Besides, if necessary, he had ways of making people crack. Just like walls, he could make them topple down.

"Um well, we're all fairly close. Sorta good friends in a way. We've been in this town for practically our whole lives," Snow is interrupted by a picture being tossed her way. The picture lands face up, and she can see that it's a candid shot of Regina walking to see Henry. She gulps down, and can see the corners of Ted's mouth beginning to curve into a smile.

"So Mary Margaret is it? Who is this woman to you?" the man asks, beginning to lean further toward her in intimidation. She swallowed fear and looked the man dead in the eye before replying: "She's my step mother. We go back." Ted sneered and decided he couldn't get anything else from her, but maybe…

"Let go of me! I swear to god if you even lay a finger on my family I wi-" Charming was shoved into the interrogation room. Total darkness coated everything as he was forced into a chair. He blinked his eyes as a bright light was shone into his face, and then another one was turned on. He watched horrified as Frank held onto Snow, a gag around her mouth and pointing at her temple with a gun. Snow's eyes were wide but somehow unafraid and Charming knew he had to stay strong for them both. The man known as Ted walked forward slowly, pulled out a chair and sat down, facing Charming head on. Both men looked at each other angrily but for very different reasons.

"So I'm assuming this charming woman is your wife?" Ted asked, nodding his head towards Snow who was still trying to struggle from Frank's grip. He nodded his head before standing up and grabbing hold of the man's collar.

"If you even think about hurting my family I will destroy you," Charming spit out, shaking the man who began to laugh almost manically. He set him down and Ted shook his head before responding.

"With what? Magic? I hate to say it, but we at the government have some, well, interesting methods for cleansing things. Especially when it comes to you magical lot. But there is one particularly interesting subject…" Ted snapped his fingers and the lights beamed on. The door was thrown open by another man in the unit, carrying both Emma and Henry. Emma was screaming and thrashing while Henry had been knocked unconscious. She looked at her father with tears in her eyes, and Ted shook his head.

"No not her you idiots. Him," he said, pointing at Henry. Charming's eyes went wide and Ted knew he had him. Emma may have been the product of true love, but Henry was both the further product of true love and whatever magic his father possessed. "He will do nicely for our experiments. Come along Frank," and before the family could blink, the men were running away from the station with Henry in their arms. Emma tore after them, screaming into oblivion his name over and over until the large black SUV rolled away and out of the town.

Charming ungagged Snow and laid a kiss to Emma's temple, whispering: "Don't worry Emma. We will find him…always."

Tracking the men was not an easy feat. Charming drove like a mad man as Snow and Emma sat in the back seat of the car, while Red tried to sniff out a possible trail through the window. They followed the dark SUV until they could see the tall skyscrapers of New York City pierce the skyline. Finally pulling out next to an old looking building, the men hopped out of the car and the Charmings pulled up to a curb a street away. Keeping an eye on the men as they stepped inside, Charming led the way towards the building; Emma, Snow and Red following closely behind. They all stepped into the buildings, guns drawn as Ted let out a hollow laugh.

"You really think you can beat us? We can expose you. Expose all of you to the world. Imagine the tour attraction that would make, a future Disneyland of sorts. Werewolves, witches, weird dwarf people, all on display for the world to see," Ted laughed and began to advance towards them, clearly on some sort of twisted mission. The rest of the men were about to leave when Charming fired a shot into the air.

"If you do anything to hurt anyone in my town, or tell anyone about us, I will destroy you if it is the last thing I do," the men went wide eyed at his accusation and ran out of the warehouse as fast as possible. Ted stood alone, now holding a very awake (and very frightened) Henry who looked to his mother with glistening eyes.

"You're outnumbered Ted. Give it up," Emma drew out, smiling as Ted tried to reach for his holster. Empty! How…? And then he saw the gun in Emma's left hand, and she waved it at him while smiling.

"Taught her everything she knows," Charming chuckled as Ted's expression began to shift from power hungry to utterly terrified. Emma stepped forward:

"You took away someone that I love and now…I am taking back my son," Emma spoke in a low tone, advancing forward with her gun pointed in front of her. Ted raised his arms in alarm, and Henry ran to his family. Ted took one last glance at the family before shaking his head and running out. This was the last time he would ever wear the badge, he decided; getting the hell away from that crazy family the only thing on his mind as he wound his way through the streets.

Back in the warehouse, the family and Red exchanged hugs, happy to have gotten away from the government's forces relatively unscathed. They all got into the car and drove for what seemed like only a few minutes back their town in Maine.

Where every storybook character they'd ever known carried on their lives and were blessed with happy ending day in and day out.

Alright so there you have it! Megan, I hope you have/had an absolutely amazing birthday and this at least partly contributed to that. We honestly had a blast writing it and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Everybody else, I hope you enjoy it as well! Lisa, Kenzie and I all have tumblr (Lisa=weak2auceviiru22e2, Kenzie=onmyowninlaceybrooke and Saskia (ME!)=queen-of-sas. Again, I hope y'all really enjoyed this and one more time MEGAN HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUUUUU!