"So I told him what happened to Baelfire, he drank the potion, and then he let me go." Emma sighed. She had only gotten as far as August turning back into a young Pinocchio when they reached Storybrooke, so had to cut the engine a couple of metres away from Regina's house to stall for more time. She hadn't realised just how much had happened since that fateful night. "And that's about it. You know the rest from there. Now we have to find Mr. Gold, who is – should be – the only other one who remembered anything about before the curse. Since he had a complicated relationship with Regina and the only side he's ever been on is his own, he might be the only one who can help us figure out what the hell happened, and help to return things back to the way things should be. Any questions?"

"A million, but I'll shorten the list for now."

"Shoot."

"You've told me all of the names of who everyone in Storybrooke goes by now, except for one." Henry frowned. "Baelfire. Who is he?"

Emma had tried to purposely leave that part out, hoping not to go into details. Although she had hoped otherwise, Emma knew that Henry always noticed the small things. It was one of the many things she admired about him. She knew it hadn't ended well the last time she held information about Henry's father to him, but she wasn't ready to talk about him yet. The pain of his passing was still raw, and rehashing the information once to Neal's father - who evidently cared for him a great deal - was enough for her. The devastation in his eyes was one look that Emma would never forget.

Then again, Emma was technically in the past now. Hadn't Neal travelled to this realm well before the time period Emma and Killian had interrupted? And if Henry was here to begin with – Neal's son – couldn't that mean that Neal could still be alive?

"Neal Cassidy." Emma said slowly, trying to avoid the words 'is' or 'was', or any other time indicators. If he truly is still alive, then Neal should still be in an apartment in New York. Regardless, Emma didn't want to get her hopes up yet again. She had mourned his loss many times already, loss not strictly limited to death. "So, what are your other questions?"

Henry thought for a moment before narrowing his eyes in thought. "Are you sure you didn't change anything else in the past?"

"I told you, kid," Emma shifted to better face her son, confused. "The only thing we did was save that woman's life by taking her with us. She would have died if we didn't."

"That's the thing, though." Henry's voice rose. "If the person you saved really was just a woman from some village, then there must have been something else that you did."

"Kid, if there's anything else I remember, I'll tell you." Emma put her hand on Henry's shoulder, trying to calm him down. She should have remembered how excitable he got. "For now, I just need time to scope out the place; see if anything has changed."

"Why don't you just break the curse now?" Henry asked. "That's how you broke it last time, right? When I went under the sleeping curse?"

Emma pondered for a few moments, turning to look down the road. The concept seemed so simple. If she broke the curse, everyone would have their memories back. Instead of subtly searching the town for any changes that may have happened, she could just let everyone remember and ask them herself.

Then she remembered what had happened when that did happen. Storybrooke was close to anarchy. The townspeople were out for blood over what had happened to them, namely Regina's. She had been forced into hiding for a number of days, and was separated from Henry. Though she knew that Regina was technically still evil, Emma knew that there was still some good inside of her, even if she gave the impression of being as loving as a cactus to anyone that wasn't her son. She didn't want to subject her to such loneliness and hatred once more, which could potentially sway her into doing more evil.

"It's not that simple." Emma offered a small smile as she turned back to face her son. "Your mom went through a pretty hard time when the curse was broken. I know that she revealed her good side eventually, and that we know she can be good, but she's still the Evil Queen to these people, you know?"

"You're right." Henry admitted, narrowing his eyes in thought, just like his father did. "She deserves a chance of forgiveness, and her happy ending again, but it's going to make things more difficult."

"Well, we'll just have to work harder to remain under the radar, making sure no-one gets suspicious."

The boy's face lit up. "We can call it Operation Mamba."

"Mamba?" Emma drew a blank. "What the heck is a mamba?"

"It's a type of snake," Henry informed. "We learned about them in class once."

"I would've taken you for a cobra kind of kid." Emma mumbled. "Sure, Operation Mamba it is. Now, before I deliver you back home, do you have any more questions?"

"Just one. You said we have to find someone called Mr. Gold, right?"

"Right." Emma repeated slowly, cautious of the train of thought Henry was following. "What about it?"

"I've lived here all of my life, and know pretty much everyone in Storybrooke," Henry began. "But I've never met anyone called Mr. Gold."

Within one simple sentence, after the familiar comfort of starting Henry's new operation, Emma was ill at ease once more. His words deflated her, thrusting her thoughts into many more different directions. The only plan that she had had been thwarted.

Without Mr. Gold, the neutral party that would undoubtedly have had interactions with many members of Storybrooke, Emma wasn't sure where to turn to next. Her initial plan was to ask Gold what had changed since around the time her parents had met, and figure out a way to get back to her own timeline. Though she would have felt awful when doing so, she was hoping that she could use Baelfire as leverage once more. She assumed that, like in the past timeline, Mr Gold would do anything if it meant reuniting with his son. As selfish as she knew it was, she was even willing to lie about his son's fate. The only excuse she found to her actions would be that if she did return to her timeline, then this one would be destroyed, and what she said wouldn't matter.

This was the way it had to be. Neal had died once; Emma couldn't bear to see it happen again.

However, due to Mr. Gold's apparent absence, Emma now had to face the fact that she may not return to the Storybrooke she knew for quite some time. As Regina cast the curse to see Mary Margaret suffer, Emma was sure that she wouldn't be willing to help her return to a place where the step-mother and daughter were allies. She was especially sure that Regina wouldn't be fond of the idea of sharing Henry, so just approaching her as a potential friend in this timeline seemed farfetched. Operation Mamba just got a lot more complex.

"I'm guessing this is a really bad thing?" Henry asked curiously.

"Yeah, Henry, a really bad thing." Emma spoke distantly, still processing the information. Mr. Gold had been the Dark One in the Enchanted Forest, so it didn't cross her mind that he would be so elusive – or possibly non-existent – in Storybrooke. "Are you really sure that he's not here? No pawnshop?"

Within the same breath, Emma restarted the engine, partially drowning out Henry's negative response. Due to her many dealings and disputes at the old antique shop, Emma was sure she knew the route there back to front by now. It wasn't that she didn't believe Henry, but she had to see it for herself. She had to have solid evidence to prove that some things have definitely changed.

They drove quickly down wide roads, glancing at some of the more familiar buildings as they went. The structures were the same, and although there were some were some new stores that she had never heard of before, most were the same. Most of the hospital's windows were lit up, and in one of them, David would most likely be resting. Hopefully. She recognised Ruby as they drove past Granny's, angrily slamming the door to the cafe, probably after another row over her choice of uniform. The middle school was eerily empty, though the distinctly colourful decorations in the windows were illuminated by the street lamps.

Eventually, they had reached their destination, and Emma pulled the car to an abrupt halt.

"What the hell?" Emma blurted while climbing out of her car. "It should be here."

Right where Mr Gold's shop should be was a massive gap between the two other buildings. She could see all the way to the fence at the back, where the adjacent stores would store their garbage. Instead of glass cabinets and bookshelves dipping under pressure, there were torn boxes and fading graffiti. It was as if Emma had imagined its very existence.

Leaning back against the Beetle, Emma closed her eyes and laid her hand on her forehead. She didn't know where Gold was, but it was clear enough that he was not here now. Nor he or his shop could help her now.

"I told you it wasn't here."

Emma opened her eyes as Henry appeared next to her, casting his gaze towards the gap. She sighed. "I know. I just don't know what we're going to do now."

"Isn't there someone else who could help?" Henry asked thoughtfully. "Like the Blue fairy who changed Snow White back into human form from a ladybird?"

"She doesn't have her magic yet." Emma began kicking some flyers that were lazily brushing against her feet from the wind. "Besides, she's now a nun who doesn't remember anything to do with magic because of the Curse, remember?"

Henry shrugged. "I guess."

She just wanted to go back to her own timeline, where things were finally beginning to become somewhat 'normal'. She was still debating how often parents – who are almost the same age as their daughter – had a baby with a 29 year old age gap to their sibling occurred in society, but considering that her parents were from a fairytale, it was about as 'normal' as she was ever going to get. Besides, she was beginning to miss her family in her own timeline, including her little brother. She didn't even know his name.

After a few minutes of silence, and a few minutes of an irritated Emma kicking flyers from being caught around her feet, she finally picked one up. It was more colourful than the missing pet posters that she usually saw, and was in a delightful comic sans font, with a school badge in one corner. Henry's school badge. From a cursory reading of it, she summarised that it was about fundraising for the local library to avoid its closure through a series of baking and jumble sales.

"Hey kid, do you know anything about this?"

Henry dragged himself out of his thoughts and peered at what Emma was gesturing at. "Of course. My class was put in charge of making posters and handing out leaflets. My mom cut funding for the library because she said it was wasting too much money."

"She did, did she?" Emma murmured. The dates for the events were in a week's time. "And what about the jumble sale? How are you getting things to sell?"

"Mostly through people donating things that they don't want any more." He began to chirp up. "We've already had a lot of donations. Mary Margaret and Lacey have had to store some of the stuff in their homes."

"Lacey? As in, Belle-Lacey?" This was different. Last time, Gold was here, and Belle had been locked away somewhere. Now Gold was nowhere to be seen, and 'Lacey' had made an appearance. As far as Emma's knowledge of the Enchanted Forest went, Regina had locked Belle up to keep her away from Gold. "What does she do in Storybrooke?"

"She's the librarian, she volunteers there." Henry explained, though grew a little more hesitant. "She got in some trouble, so it's part of her community service. Mom never told me what happened."

"It makes sense, at least." Emma recalled both memories of Belle being fond of reading, and Lacey being fond of drinking. She did wonder what Lacey did to consequent community service. Even in the timeline Emma remembered, Lacey was fonder of encouraging violent or criminal acts rather than partaking in them.

"I'd like to get a hold of her police records."

"You could try the sheriff's station." Henry suggested.

"I'd better try to get into your mom's good books before I do any snooping around," Emma sighed, "and speaking of your mom, it's about time that I get you home. She's probably worried sick."

Henry's posture drooped gloomily, but complied by entering the car. "You're right. She's going to kill me."

"Henry!"

The duo had barely opened the gate when the porch light flickered on, and Regina flew down the pathway. She wrapped her arms around Henry before cupping his face, tilting it to each side as she checked for any possible harm. After a few protests from her son, Regina finally let him go, ordering him to go to bed. Henry seemed reluctant at first, but after an encouraging smile from Emma, he headed back indoors. The upstairs window suddenly becoming aglow was the only indication of his movement.

Within the essence of the reunion, Emma found it hard to believe that Regina had ever been the Evil Queen at all. Everyone had their vulnerabilities, and for her, it was Henry. However, when Regina's eyes captured hers, she remembered how Regina used to be. Though she could see that there was notable relief, there were also glints of curiosity and suspicion in Regina's glare. It was somewhat understandable, as Storybrooke wasn't a well-known tourist destination, but she was giving off a pretty bad vibe.

"Thank you." Regina smiled and took a few cautious steps forward, folding her arms. "For returning my son to me."

"No problem. He's a very-" Emma fumbled over her words "-he seems like a very spirited kid. If he gets an idea, it looks like he's not afraid to follow it through."

If Emma was going to keep up with the pretence that she was new to the town, she had to be careful with how she presented herself to those she came across, especially ones who had the potential to make her life less than joyful. She knew those consequences all too well.

"Why did my son want to find you?" Regina asked, narrowing her eyes. "Who are you?"

Emma took a deep breath. "I'm Emma Swan; his birth-mother."

"I see." Regina's posture became a little more rigid, but uncrossed her arms and clasped her hands in front of her. "Well, would you like to come inside? Share a drink, maybe?"

"That's fine, it's getting pretty late." Emma began taking small steps backward, planning a quick exit to the gate. "Though, I'd like to talk more about Henry some time. It seems like you're doing a pretty good job with him."

"You do know the agreements about a closed adoption, right?" She warned, raising an eyebrow. "You gave up your rights to see Henry."

"That's right, I remember." Emma offered a strained smile as she slipped out of the gate, closing it behind her. "I'd just like a friendly update. Mother-to-mother."

With that, Emma strode over to her car and slumped into the driver's seat. The confrontation hadn't gone entirely as planned, though she wanted to keep it short and sweet. The day seemed to have lasted an age already, and she had so much that she had to process before she faced the next day. From analysing her and Killian's actions during their expedition to the past, to figuring out what's changed in this Storybrooke and how to get back to her Storybrooke, she knew that she was in for a long night.

Regina didn't like change, especially in Storybrooke. Change led to new potential threats. Change led to the possibility of the Curse being weakened, or worse, broken. Emma Swan was the embodiment of all that Regina had tried to avoid, especially after learning that she had a strong link to one of those whom she held most dear to her heart. Henry.

Disgruntled from the abrupt end in conversation, Regina headed indoors, bracing herself against the back of the front door as she caught her breath. She caught a glimpse of trainers haphazardly thrown at the base of the stairs, and just as she was about to reprimand her son – yet again – for not putting his shoes away, a dark-haired figure approached her from the kitchen. A smug smile spread across her face as she sauntered towards him.

"Good evening, love." The man smirked, alight with mischief and curiosity. "If you don't mind me asking, who the bloody hell was that?"