A/N: Happy to see that there's interest for this story :) I hope you continue to enjoy. Welcome to the adds and a huge thank you for those who have reviewed.

Now for the big one: Thank all of you who have made your way by. This chapter has been in the works since 2 days after I posted the first chapter. Real life gets in the way and sometimes things just do not go to plan, no matter how hard you try. I apologize to those of you who have been waiting, and I sincerely welcome your reviews and your readership. I promise, it will not be another seven months before the next chapter is posted.

Sam and Dean walked down the road in silence, their eyes scanning the tree line for signs of life. There was no one, and it seemed to be too quiet. It took only a few moments for the town to come into view, a small, quaint little grouping of buildings that lined a quiet street.

"Like this isn't creepy," Dean mumbled, seemingly to himself. He adjusted the pack on his shoulder, glancing over to gauge Sam's reaction.

"Well, it's not empty." The younger brother nodded toward the diner as a young boy ducked in, followed by a woman with wavy dirty-blonde hair.

Dean grunted. "Ideas?"

"Well," Sam released a long sigh, scratching his head, "these people probably don't get many visitors..."

"And we'd scare 'em," Dean surmised.

"Or at least raise questions."

He sighed, staring off into the distance. "Think they have pie?"

Sam snorted, "what kind of diner doesn't have pie?"

A wide grin spread over the older Winchester's face and he started off toward the diner with a spring in his step. Sam scrambled to keep up, falling in step beside his brother.

"You're just gonna walk in?" Sam hissed as they neared the dinner, catching movement from the corner of his eye. The town was starting to wake for the day.

Dean smiled at a dark-haired woman as she stepped out of the building closest to them. She smiled back cautiously, climbing into her truck and pulling away. "We're in broad daylight, Sammy. If we wanted to sneak around, we shoulda waited. Just...act like a tourist."

He opened the diner door and they slid into a booth by the window. Their arrival drew the eyes of those in the diner, questioning and wary eyes, much as they'd been expecting. The waitress strode out from behind the counter, her high heels clicking in rhythm against the floor as she swaggered toward their table. An easy smile touched her ruby-painted lips as she pulled an order pad from her apron.

"What can I get you boys today?" she asked sweetly, glancing between the brothers with obvious interest.

Dean couldn't hide the smile that crept across his face and he threw her a flirty wink as Sam eyed the menu. She practically glowed under his attention. She lingered for a moment after she'd taken their orders, then spun on her heels and sauntered away.

"What was that?" Sam asked incredulously.

"What was what?" he returned, tearing his eyes away from the shapely, swaying hips.

"We don't even know if they're human, Dean. Remember the diner? With the demons?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he grunted, sitting up a little straighter. "You're a buzzkill, ya know that?"

"Yeah, well...one of us has to be." He looked around the diner, noting that the customers were still casting furtive glances their way. "Let's just focus on finding out what's going on here first."

"So..." Dean drummed his hands on the table, "giant magic bubble with people inside. I got nothin'."

"Hey." They looked up, seeing the blonde that had entered the diner with the boy walking up to their table. Her eyes seemed a little tired, but she held herself straight. No smile touched her face, making her seem stern and rigid. She pulled a chair from a nearby table, spinning it around and sliding into it with liquid ease.

"Um, hi," Dean answered, flashing her a smile.

"We don't get many visitors around here," she stated, pausing as the waitress brought the food to the table.

"Why's that?" Sam asked, "It seems like a nice enough town."

"Don't really know," she glanced back toward the boy at the booth she'd left. "People around here get curious, ya know."

The older Winchester offered a chuckle. "We get that."

"If you don't mind me asking,...what brings the two of you to Storybrook?"

Dean took a large bite of his pie and a self-indulgent smile spread across his face. "This. This is officially the reason we're here. We're not leavin' this diner, Sammy."

Shaking his head, Sam extended his hand toward their table guest. "Sam Smith," he offered as she shook his hand. "This is my brother, Dean."

"Emma," she responded in kind, "sheriff."

"Well, sheriff," Sam cleared his throat, "we're just here sightseeing. We actually didn't know this place was here."

She regarded him closely. "Sightseeing," she repeated.

"Hiked in," Dean chimed around the last bite of apple pie. He swallowed noisily, sitting back in his seat. "Is there a motel or something around here?"

She was silent for a long moment before she nodded, pushing out of her seat. "Granny runs an inn. Ruby'll help you." She gestured toward the waitress and nodded her head toward the boys. "You two have a nice stay."

They watched her until she slid back into her seat at the booth. The boy leaned over, whispering with her, casting a few glances their way. Sam lifted his glass, taking a thoughtful drink of water.

"Something seem..."

"Different about her?" Dean interjected. "Yeah."

"So we're stayin'."

"Oh yeah."

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It didn't take long to settle into the little room overlooking the courtyard. The inn was quaint and quiet, and the window was ideal for watching the comings and goings of those in the town. Dean stared toward the Town Hall absently, trying to force the thoughts running rampant in his mind into some sense of order. Nothing about this place felt right, and he couldn't figure why. It had been unusual to be approached by the law so quickly after entering town, but given the circumstances, he couldn't blame the sheriff for checking in on them. After all, Storybrook couldn't get that many visitors, not with the barrier surrounding the town. He frowned. Why was the barrier there? Someone in the town had to be responsible for it.

He hardly noticed the beer that Sam pressed into his hand before plopping down unceremoniously on the edge of the nearest bed. "Well, I got nothin'." He took a long swig of his own, watching his brother stare out of the window.

"Mmm," Dean agreed, taking a drink.

"I mean, there's nothing in the local newspapers except,...well...dirt on the local sheriff. Looks like someone didn't want her in office." He reached behind him, pulling a well-used paper from the top of his bag. "It's a few weeks old,...Granny had a stack of 'em behind the desk."

"What do they say?" Dean asked, resting his back against the wall.

"Mostly just political mud-slinging, it looks like...before the election for sheriff..." he sat his beer on the floor, shaking the newspaper out. "Emma has a record. Looks like she had a kid while in jail. She looks young...really young." He shook his head. "This should have been sealed..."

"Like someone got it unsealed?"

Sam turned the paper around. "Maybe this Sidney Glass. He wrote the article."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Anything else in the newspapers?"

Sam scanned through a few, handing one to Dean. "Looks like the last sheriff died. Heart attack." He lifted his beer.

"That would explain the need for the election."

They fell silent as they continued to read, their beer slowly disappearing as the hour passed.

"This kid keeps showing up everywhere," Dean mumbled.

"What kid?"

"This Henry kid, the kid with the sheriff at the diner." He turned the paper toward his brother, showing him the picture on front. "Mine collapsed a few months back...he had to be rescued."

"Is that the sheriff's kid? The one she had in prison?"

"One and the same."

Sam's brow furrowed in thought. "She gave the kid up for adoption though, right? That's what the article said..."

"So, who's his mom now?" Dean finished.

"Think maybe this is all connected to the kid somehow?"

Dean cracked open another beer. "When is anything ever a coincidence in our line of work? Huh?" He knocked back a long, noisy swig.

Sam sighed, nodding, looking down at the picture of the young boy on the front page. "Alright then. The kid it is."

tbc...