Chapter Two

Emma Swan was stuck up a tree.

To be fair, she wasn't completely stuck. She just wasn't...immediately able to extricate herself. It wasn't that high, she could probably jump. But it definitely wasn't going to be graceful. And the park was full of families with their kids, running around playing with their dogs, cats, and rats, or whatever. She'd prefer to wait before embarrassing herself falling out of a stupid tree. No doubt she'd land on her ass.

Not that Emma cared about embarrassing herself in front of a bunch of small town soccer moms, but she was on a clandestine mission. She called it Operation Hawkeye. She may have spent her teenage years as a borderline delinquent but her younger years were spent rotting her brains out on arcade games and comic books. Emma was hardly dressed for spying in her plaid wool dress and black tights, but she'd managed to clamber up the tree and hide without attracting any attention.

This park was the only game in town. She'd overheard a couple of moms raving about the brand new shiny plastic play equipment their kids were currently trying to destroy. Emma figured it would be the perfect place for a new mom to take her kid for a walk of an afternoon. Especially if that mom was the mayor and had funded the whole refurbishment.

All Emma had to do was lie in wait until her target showed up.

The crunch of dried leaves on the ground below announced someone way closer than was mission-safe. Emma shrank back into the foliage while simultaneously trying to snoop on who had almost made her. There was a damn branch in the way nearly obscuring the woman below. Her dark brown hair was professionally cut in a short style that kicked around near her shoulders and she was immaculately dressed in power heels and an expensive suit that skirted her every curve.

Emma froze when she heard the voice below.

"Henry, dear, please stop crying. I don't know what you want." The woman leant over to peer under the blue blanket draped over the pram she was pushing.

Target acquired.

Emma pricked her ears and heard a sad sigh. "Let's go home then."

The sound of leaves crunching under the pram wheels had Emma twisting around the tree trunk trying to get a better glimpse as her mark disappeared from view. The woman had undoubtedly been Regina Mills.

"Damn". Emma slapped the coarse trunk as she lost sight of them. She'd been so close. Her baby had been in that pram! No. She shook her head as though to correct the thought. Not her baby. Just the kid she'd brought into the world and given to someone else. Someone else who had yet to prove herself as a competent and loving parent in the Court of Justice Emma. She wondered what he looked like now. He must be so big.

She needed more than just that little glimpse. But how? According to all reports, the mayor had been holed up at Mifflin St since bringing the kid home. A bit of asking around had revealed that Mayor Mills had no relatives in town, no close friends, no work colleagues. The woman was an island socially. It was bizarre.

Actually, it kinda reminded her of her own situation in life. Alone and friendless. Although, Emma didn't have the mansion or the cushy job as compensation. Or the mayor's killer body, she groused. Despite giving birth a few months earlier, Emma had been on the streets for a year before juvie and even now at 18 she was still sporting a gawky skinny teenager look.

"Right. Madam Mayor, you're a hard target. So it's time to take Operation Hawkeye to the next phase."

Emma squealed as she slid out of the tree, feeling like an idiot as she drew more than a few stares. She hit the ground and headed towards the town center with a cocky grin.

"You're telling me there's one job available in this entire town? Is that normal?"

Emma tilted her head from the newspaper and scrunched her face into disbelief.

Ruby paused wiping the counter across from where Emma was propped up on a bar stool. "I guess so. Never really thought about it before."

"I've never heard of anyone being out of work here," said Mary Margaret, beside her.

"Seriously? How can that be?" Storybrooke was the weirdest place. Emma ripped the ad out of the middle of the page.

"Hey, I thought you were here on holiday, Emma? How come you're looking for job?" asked Ruby.

Busted. "Actually I think I'm gonna stay for a while. Find a job, find a place."

"Hold up, where are you staying?" asked Ruby, confused. "The B&B is the only place in town and I know we don't have any guests."

"Crashed in my car last night," Emma admitted.

Mary Margaret's face was a perfect mixture of scandalised and worried. "You slept in your car?"

"Not the worst place I've slept, trust me." Emma grinned rakishly.

"Well, you're staying at Granny's tonight." Ruby nodded to make it official. "It won't be easy finding a place to rent here. Mr Gold owns the town and last I heard, he wasn't taking on any new tenants. I so want my own place."

"One thing at a time. Tomorrow I'm gonna ace this job interview." Emma held up the little paper square at arm's length and squinted at it like she'd discovered a rare gem.

"Storybrooke, you're looking at the new maid for 108 Mifflin Street!"

Ruby whooped and Mary Margaret wished her good luck, saying they were both sure the young girl would get it.

Emma donned her lamb-coloured jacket and ducked out to her car to get her bag of clothes so she could check in to the B&B. When she got back she could tell the older girls had been talking about her and she glanced at them suspiciously.

"Shouldn't we tell her whose house that is?" whispered Mary Margaret.

"No, are you crazy." Ruby hissed back at her.

"Emma! We were just wondering if you have, you know, any relevant experience for your job interview tomorrow?" said Mary Margaret.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "You can clean, right Ems?"

"Ruby!" Mary Margaret shot her a look.

"Yeah, no worries," said Emma. "I haven't had a job before but I've got plenty of experience."

The girls waited in expectant silence for the teen to explain.

"I was in jail." Emma shrugged up her backpack and went out the door at the back of the diner that connected to the B&B.

Ruby and Mary Margaret shared a look as if they weren't quite sure if the blonde had been serious. Ruby called out to Emma's retreating back.

"Hey, Ems! Tomorrow, girl's night! To celebrate your new job. Me and M&M will show you the nightlife."

Emma leant around the doorway with a playful smirk. She made a show of looking around the diner, where the sunset was streaming in on the empty tables and booths. "You mean, this isn't it?"

Emma held the phone to her ear and listened with a frown as it rang and rang. She crossed her boots on the floral bedspread and leaned back into the frilly pillows.

Eventually a tired sounding voice answered with a terse "Hello."

"Uh, hi. Is this 108 Mifflin Street?" asked Emma, trying out her polite grownup voice.

"I don't have time for this." The woman sounded harassed.

"Wait, don't hang up! Uh, my name is Emma Swan. I uh, found the ad in the paper and I just wanted to uhm, confirm, that I'll be attending the job interview tomorrow."

"Oh. Thanks for letting me know, Ms Swan. I'll expect you at 10. Is there anything else?"

Emma heard a baby wail in the background and her jaw dropped at the coincidence. It couldn't be, could it?

"Ms Swan?" said the woman impatiently.

"Yes, sorry, I'm here. Um, can I ask your name, please?"

There was a beat of silence as though the other person was stunned that Emma didn't know who she was.

The background wailing escalated into a scream. That was Henry!

"It's Regina Mills. I'm sorry, I have to go."

Emma listened to the hangup, blown away at how she'd gotten so lucky. Pretty soon she'd have a job and she'd be able to work on Operation Hawkeye within the enemy's lair itself.

Too bad she'd never actually been to a job interview before. But how hard could it be?