Emma groaned and tried to stretch away the aches she felt across her entire body as she slowly began to wake. Sleeping in her car did have the advantage of not having to pay for a room at Granny's since her recent endeavors at the Sheriff's office inevitably let to Regina kicking her out of the bed and breakfast, but sleeping in an upright position every night for almost a week was starting to take a toll on her back – and her personal hygiene.

Despite being in alternate Storybrooke for just over a week, Emma was no closer to discovering the truth about what had changed in her trip to the past or how to fix it. She dove head first into her research, pouring over every archive and dull news article the library had to offer, and the most she found out about was a controversial rise in road tax. Even gossiping with Lacey on her breaks was woefully unsuccessful, only learning menial drunken tales about people with names she vaguely recognized.

Glancing over at the stack of papers on the passenger seat, Emma thought about all of the character profiles she had created in the past couple of days, comparing lives of everyone in this Storybrooke to her Storybrooke as she encountered them. Much to her dismay, the results led her to believe that there had not been any drastic changes for the town's Cursed residents.

Apart from one.

Emma knew that if word got back to Regina about what she was doing, the woman would definitely suspect that Emma was onto her and make life even more difficult for her than it already was. Aware that she probably had Sidney Glass or some other lackey tracing her every move, Emma made sure to venture out in the very early hours of the morning to minimise the risk. She knew she could just ask Henry to check for her, but she didn't want to involve him any more than he already was. Plus, this was just something she wanted to do herself.

After tripping off the alarm at the rear of the building, Emma skulked past the receptionist making irritated phone calls to the head of security and slipped upstairs. Once she had reached the right floor and was sure no-one was following her, she took down her hood and made a beeline towards the sectioned-off room at the end of the corridor.

She smiled sadly as she sat on the edge of David's bed, taking one of his hands and holding it firmly between hers, as though drawing strength from it. She hated seeing him in this state, but Emma had to admit that she was partly relieved to see a familiar face that wasn't going to look back at her like a stranger.

She made sure her visit was brief, conscious of the fact that she only had a few minutes before staff realized nothing was wrong and went back to her stations. Emma quickly wiped her eyes and turned to leave when she noticed that David wasn't the only comatose patient being kept in this room. She was almost afraid to blink as she cautiously walked towards the other man hooked up to a dozen blinking machines.

"Gold?"

"Emma!"

The shouting, accompanied by a knocking on the passenger window, swiftly pulled Emma out of her daydreaming. She sighed as she moved her papers to the backseat and unlocked the car doors.

"Hey, kid." Emma said as Henry climbed in, frowning at the clock on her dash. "Why are you here so early?"

"It's the jumble-bake sale for the library. You said you were coming, right?" Henry asked.

"Right." She started clearing the back seat of the papers and putting them beneath her seat, out of sight if anyone were to peer inside. "Why aren't you with Regina?"

Emma noticed a shift in Henry's demeanour. "She has work meetings all day, as usual."

Regina may still be considered the 'evil' mayor at this point, but she was still Henry's mother. Emma could only imagine the amount of birthday parties and school recitals she'd missed out on because of work commitments. As mature as Henry is, every kid still wants someone cheering them on from the sidelines; Emma knew the feeling all too well.

"Then let's get going," Emma said with a smile. "It's a prime opportunity to execute the next phase of Operation Mamba."

As Emma and Henry walked into the main function room in Storybrooke's town hall, Emma was surprised to see just how big a community event this was. Stalls were tightly packed into whatever space was available for them, and despite it being fairly early on a Saturday morning, it seemed as if half the town were already here. The room was buzzing with conversations of locals catching up with one another, slowly circling the room as they made their way around the thematically categorized stalls.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed due to only being awake no more than half an hour, Emma headed straight towards the refreshments to buy herself a coffee and Henry a hot chocolate.

To her surprise, Mary Margaret was one of the volunteers on this station. Emma had only spoken to her once or twice when meeting Henry outside school, but she was as pleasant and welcoming to her as she had been the first time Emma had met her. They didn't get much time to chat, but Emma managed to get her number for any emergencies after using the excuse that she didn't trust Regina to give her any important updates regarding Henry. It was partly true that she didn't trust Regina, but Emma felt better knowing she had a way of contacting her in any circumstance.

"I'm so glad you could make it, Emma." Mary Margaret said as she passed over their drinks. "Henry's been looking forward to it for weeks."

"I can see why." Emma glanced around the room. "I didn't realise the whole town would be here."

Mary Margaret chuckled. "We try to have at least one big event a year, keep the community spirit alive."

"Are there any other activities in the community coming up that I should be keeping an eye out for?" Emma asked.

"Unless those activities involve the charming presence of yours truly, I wouldn't bother," said a familiar voice from behind her. "One coffee, please."

Emma's head jerked as she turned to face the culprit, who was standing alarmingly closer than expected. She realized just in time to take a small step back to avoid bumping her head against his chest, though she lost balance slightly as she knocked against the table behind her.

"Careful, love." Killian smirked as his arm jolted out to catch her elbow, steadying her. "I know it's hard not to be bowled over by my dashing good looks, but you really ought to be more careful."

"Killian?" Emma exclaimed, unsure of whether to be annoyed or relieved to see her leather-clad companion.

At this point, Emma had pretty much given up hope of finding either Killian or the mysterious woman that they rescued; she had seen neither hide or hair of the both of them up this point. Through her extensive search through publicly available town records and walking around the town itself whilst talking to some of its inhabitants, the only major telltale sign that things have changed was how Gold was now in the hospital and Belle was out wrecking minor havoc. How were they only just meeting now?

"So, you've heard of me then?" Killian's eyes lit up curiously.

Emma's heart sank.

Her whole plan of escape had been planned out and shattered in a few brief moments. She imagined finally teaming up with her pirate, waking up Gold, and finding some magic to somehow leave the town without going through the chaos of breaking the curse. She had one component of the plan standing right in front of her, but with one fatal flaw – he either somehow lost his memories of their escapades through the portal and Emma didn't, or they majorly messed up in the past and somehow her Killian had ended up cursed and in Storybrooke instead of in the Enchanted Forest.

Judging by her luck during the past week, Emma opted for the latter option.

"Henry might have mentioned you once," Emma stammered, "briefly. When we were catching up on things I've missed so far."

"Has he now?" Killian raised an eyebrow and let go of Emma's arm, stepping back to glance at Henry. "And what has the lad been saying about me?"

"Oh, you know," Emma struggled as she looked down at a mildly confused Henry. "Just helping me get familiar with some names within the town."

Henry frowned. "Why aren't you in the meeting with mom?"

"I'm on my way. I just fancied popping by to see what all the fuss was about." Killian ruffled Henry's hair before returning a last smouldering gaze to Emma, extending his hand towards her. "I'll see you around, Miss?"

"Emma," she said, firmly shaking his hand. "Emma Swan."

"See you around, Emma."

Killian held on a fraction longer after the handshake had ended before taking his coffee from Mary Margaret and snaking his way through the crowds. Emma eyes followed him until he was out of sight before turning back towards the refreshments table.

If anything, Emma was glad to see that Killian was still as painfully flirty as before.

"It's probably not my place to say," said Mary Margaret apprehensively. "But you should probably stay away from Killian Jones."

Emma frowned, her heartbeat picking up. "Why?"

"He's-" Mary Margaret for thought "-he's bad news. He basically runs this town; pretty much everyone is scared around him. If you think Regina is bad, you haven't seen what he is capable of."

"Noted." Emma nodded. "Thank you for telling me."

"Good." She smiled. "Now you and Henry go enjoy yourselves! Take a look around some of the stalls."

Emma muttered her thanks again as she took Henry's hand – much to his protest – and walked swiftly towards one of the corners of the hall that was being used for spare boxes of stuff to be laid out if tables were to become sparse throughout the day. When they were reasonably out of earshot of any potential eavesdroppers, she turned towards her son and dropped down until she was at his height.

"You didn't tell me that he was here." Emma scolded lightly.

"Who?" Henry shot back defensively. "Killian?"

"Yes, Killian." She lowered her voice as a group walked past them. "Captain Hook, you know? The guy I travelled through time with?"

The boy's eyes lit up excitedly as Emma told him. "That's Captain Hook? I've been trying to figure out who he is forever! He has two hands, so I ruled him out as a pirate, and you never mentioned that his actual name was Killian."

Emma's head started spinning with so many thoughts and questions, it was hard to keep track of them all and prioritize which one she wanted to ask Henry first. How did he run the town? Did Regina know this? How did he even end up here? Eventually, she settled on one: "He has two hands?"

Henry nodded. "Yep. Both real, too."

"Okay." She took a deep breath trying to calm herself. "Tell me what you know about him."

"He owns a lot of the businesses in the town, so he's one of the top of the town's advisors and goes to a lot of the meetings. He scares a lot of people because he's very strict with his business and gets annoyed pretty quickly." Henry suddenly screwed up his face. "And I think he's sort of dating my mom, but she always tells me that they're just 'very good friends'."

"It wouldn't be the first." Emma muttered to herself. "Okay kid, I'm going to ask you a really big favour."

"Shoot."

Emma took out some cash from her pocket and handed it to Henry. "Have a good look around these stalls, get yourself whatever you want and I'll meet up with you later. Now that I know Killian's here, I think I have a lead to run with, but I have to get all my thoughts out now."

Henry beamed. "Phase 2 of Operation Mamba is a go."

Emma smiled and kissed Henry's forehead before weaving her way through the crowds towards the exit. She was almost at the doors when a particular stall caught her eye. To most passersby, it was the junk stall with odd bits and bobs that didn't quite fit onto any of the others. However, Emma recognised some of the items as being things from Gold's shop: the wooden windmill, the creepy dolls with eyes that seemed to follow your every move, various orbs, small trinkets.

The thing that mostly caught her eye was a small, chipped teacup hanging from a shiny metal hook. At first, she thought it was ironic that the two items treasured by two deadly foes should be arranged in such a way. Then her eyes lit up as her mind made a potential link between how their fates may have intertwined in the past to lead to Mr. Gold being a ghost in hospital and Hook being the new leader of the town. Emma's bigger worry was what she did that led to this reality.

"Can I have these, please?" Emma asked, hastily getting the right change out of her pocket.

"You want this too?" The stall manager asked in a gruff voice, pulling a ring from out of the teacup.

Emma's heart skipped a beat. Someone had to have purposely arranged those three items together. "Yes, the ring too."

She gave him the cash and grabbed the paper bag before rushing out, wanting to get all of her new information and ideas out on paper before she had a chance to forget any of them.

Barely making a step out of the doors and into the mid-morning sunshine, an otherwise preoccupied Emma collided head first with someone. The jolt knocked the hot drink in her hands, and though she had good enough reflexes to keep a firm hold on it, it didn't stop the liquid from sloshing over the sides of the lidless cup and covering her in coffee.

"I am so, so sorry," Emma apologised, staring helplessly at the mess.

"In a bit of a hurry, Miss Swan?" Graham joked. "Don't worry, it looks as if the only major casualty here is your clothes."

"A little." Emma smiled, already edging her way past the sheriff. "Sorry again, I'll make it up to you."

"Stop!"

She froze as he grabbed her arm, looking down at it with mild annoyance. If she hadn't just nearly spilled coffee all over him instead of just herself, she would have protested against the second dose of arm-grabbing she had experienced that day.

"What?" Emma asked.

"You can make it up to me now," Graham paused as he reached into his pocket, "by taking this key and claiming one of the couches in my apartment."

"Graham-"

"Before you protest, it will only be for one night if you want. Just long enough for you to shower and get a proper meal down you." He smirked and glanced behind her. "Then you can go back to sleeping in that very comfortable looking car of yours."

Emma grinned, reluctantly taking the key from him. "Thanks, Graham. I really appreciate it."

"Any time," he said. "I'll see you there when my shift ends."

With that, he turned and headed back towards the building. Emma felt the warmth of a kind gesture run through her, as well as the giddy feeling of finally being able to have a thorough wash rather than having to make do with public restrooms. She continued grinning as she skipped down the steps and got into her car, searching the glovebox for the address he had written down for her during their first untimely meeting.

Henry handed over the money and beamed up at Leroy as he was handed his paper bag, calling out his thanks as he turned and began walking away. It might not have been the exact thing that Emma had in mind when she told Henry to get whatever he wanted, but he was pleased with the outcome nevertheless.

"I've always wanted tone of those."

Henry looked up and saw a boy with shoulder length brown hair looking at his bag. He looked a little bit older than Henry, which explained why he didn't at first recognise him. Henry thought he might have seen the boy at school before, but he couldn't be sure.

"Thanks, it's for secret operation." He explained.

"Cool." The boy grinned, then gestured nervously. "Could I give it a try?"

Henry didn't hesitate in pulling one of the walkie talkies out and showing him how it worked, mimicking the exact words Leroy had said to him moments earlier. "And make sure to say 'over' when you're finished speaking."

The boy pulled the device up to his mouth: "Be careful Snake, there are security cameras all over that place. Over."

"Do they know I'm here for Metal Gear? Over."

The boys carried on like this for ten minutes, occasionally laughing at how the other person's voice sounded through the tinny speakers of the talkie and eventually creating an operation of their own as they navigated their way through the stalls and towards the section for the bake sale.

"That was fun," the boy said, handing back the talkie before taking a bite out of a blueberry muffin.

"It was." Henry smiled, extending his hand towards him. "I'm Henry."

The boy shook it happily. "I'm Liam."