"And how long would you say he's been gone, Mrs. Reynolds?" the officer asked.
"It's been at least six hours," she replied. "And we just heard from one of Vince's friends, who said that Henry may have bought a mountain bike from his cousin. I have a large shed out back with a lot of old junk in it - it would have been easy to hide it in there."
"Any idea where he might be headed?"
Angela nodded. "My guess is he's headed back to Maine. He was sure his mother was going to return there - the poor kid. I'd start by checking the bus and train stations around Boston. He was originally brought here after they found him wandering a highway north of there."
"Do you have a recent photo?"
Angela nodded, squatting down to get into her file drawer. "I take pictures of all the kids when they get here - just in case." She pulled out a file folder, sorting through it, then again. "Hold on," she said, looking down into the drawer and pushing folders and papers around. Her head snapped up and she looked at the officer. "He took it. He must've taken it out of the file."
"Do you have a digital copy?" the officer asked helpfully.
"Yeah, I do." She opened another drawer and pulled out a camera. "I still have the memory card in here - Henry hasn't been here that long." She turned the camera on and started scrolling through the photos once, twice... Her eyes widened. "He deleted it. He went through my camera and deleted it."
"Smart kid," the officer replied.
Angela set the camera down on her desk. "Yeah," she said. "He really is."
The officer put away his notebook and put his pen back in his pocket. "I'll put out an APB here in New York and alert the Maine state police," he said. "We'll find him, ma'am."
###
"Henry!" Emma shouted. "Henry! Can you hear us? Henry!"
"He's not responding," Killian said.
"Henry!" Regina added her voice to Emma's, as did Killian and Robin, but Henry gave no sign that he heard them.
"Can we poof to him?" Emma asked, keeping her magic flowing at the barrier. "Think ourselves through it?"
"No," Regina said. "The portal magic is too strong."
"Can we poof an inanimate object?" Emma tried. "Like a note or cellphone or something?"
Regina shook her head. "Too strong. It doesn't matter if it's alive or not - nothing's crossing that barrier."
"He's right there!" Emma said, in complete exasperation.
He appeared to be reading his storybook, and completely absorbed. His backpack was on the ground next to him, and he was leaning against...
"The wishing well," Regina said, tilting her head a bit as she studied him. "He's next to the wishing well."
Emma dropped her hands, and so did Regina, causing the vision of Henry to wink out. "Then let's get there," Emma said.
"Wait - we are there," Robin replied. "Or at least, we should be. The well should be just a few dozen yards over that way." He pointed over his shoulder.
"It's not there," Killian said.
"Obviously." Regina snapped. "The question is, "Why not?"
"If that was the entry point - if that's where we all got sucked into...wherever this is...maybe it was immune?" Emma postulated.
"That well has magical properties. It's not just an entry point," Regina said. "It's an anchor. When you and Snow were portaled to the Enchanted Forest, the well was your re-entry point."
"So it would remain where it is, regardless of Storybrooke's location?" Hook asked.
"It appears so." Regina tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Henry's clearly outside the sphere of wherever we are, and he's found the only part of Storybrooke left to find. He's trying to find us."
"What about the dock?" Robin said. "Is the barrier in place at the water?"
Emma nodded. "Yes. I ran into it personally." She rubbed her nose self-consciously. "But it might not hurt to go down there. Maybe we can call a mermaid or something."
"That's not a bad idea," Regina said. "They can travel between realms."
"It's more of an idea than we've had," Killian pointed out. "Let's go."
They headed back toward the center of town, with Robin in the lead. A few moments later, they cleared the trees and Regina walked into Robin's back as he screeched to a halt just as the stepped off the trail.
"What the devil...?" Killian's voice came out in a whisper, as he stood, dumbfounded with the others, staring up at the sky behind the buildings at the center of town.
"Are those...skyscrapers?" Regina's voice was incredulous. "Why do we have skyscrapers suddenly showing in the distance behind town?"
"Those aren't just any skyscrapers," Emma said, her brows knit together in confusion. "I know that skyline. That's Manhattan."
"New York?" Killian asked.
"Yes. That's the Manhattan skyline. But what's it doing outside of Storybrooke?"
"It looks like a shadow. Or a facade," Robin stated. "Perhaps it's showing through the barrier, like Henry was."
"Wait a minute - " Emma turned suddenly, gripping Regina's arm. "You said Henry was outside the sphere of wherever we are."
"Yes. That much is obvious." Regina said.
Emma turned slowly in a circle, her mouth hanging open. "I know where we are. We're in a sphere."
"A sphere?" Killian raised a brow.
"A globe," Emma replied. "A snowglobe. Robin said that Henry was going to give the snowglobe to Roland - he only has one. I bought it for him the day we got to New York. It had the Manhattan skyline in it."
"He had it with him when George opened the portal?" Regina asked.
"He stopped to see me on his way to the dock," Robin said. "He had it in his hand when he left."
"And then he got to the dock, saw the pile of ash and called me," Emma said. "Regina - if he touched the ash and then touched the snowglobe..."
Regina nodded slowly. "Yes..." she put her fingers to her lips, thinking. "Yes. There wasn't enough ash to transport us all through, so the magic splintered, pulling both realms into the only receptacle touched by the ash."
"We're inside the snow globe?" Robin asked. "How can that be?"
"We're not really anywhere," Regina said. "We're fragmented between Storybrooke and The Enchanted Forest. The snowglobe is holding onto the essence of that. We need to find a way to bring it all back together."
"How the hell do we break out of a snowglobe?" Killian asked, waving a hand. "And how do we let Henry know we're all bloody trapped in here?"
"Can we send a message through the barrier? Hit with an energy bolt or something?" Emma asked.
Regina shook her head. "He couldn't see us, remember? We're not here. The only parts of Storybrooke that exist in a set place are the wishing well and Henry's book."
"He has the book." Emma's head snapped up. "If he has the book, then the stories would have changed, wouldn't they?"
"Just like when we time traveled," Killian said. "Everything changed in the book."
"He's studying," Regina said, her face breaking into a smile. "He's studying the book. Looking for clues."
"And if I know that book," Emma said, "it'll give him the clues he needs. I know that look. He's on a mission."
Regina nodded, smiling wider. "He's on a mission."
"What can we do to show him where we are?" Robin asked. "Surely there must be a way. Can we access the book or the well somehow? Send a message through it?"
"No," Emma shook her head.
"Yes." Killian answered at the same time. She gave him a questioning look. "The well. It's counterpart in the Enchanted Forest is Lake Nostos. Could we use the compass somehow - send it through the lake to Henry?"
"You'd need something else to make the portal - a magic bean or - " Regina paused, her eyes brightening. "Ash. If Henry can duplicate what George did - send the snowglobe and the ash back through the well while we hit it from the other side with the compass - it should undo what that idiot George did."
"We can reverse this?" Emma asked.
Regina nodded. "I think so. But it'll all depend on Henry figuring this out for himself."
"And on us making it to Lake Nostos without Rumplestiltskin stopping us," Killian added. "The last thing he wants is for us to succeed in getting things back to normal."
"He's not going to go down without a fight," Regina said, making a face. "And trust me when I tell you that Rumple doesn't fight fair."
###
"More wine?" Rumple asked, gesturing to Belle's goblet.
"Please." She gave him a smile as he waved his hand, and the goblet refilled itself. "Now, where were we?" she asked. "Oh yes. The plans for the merger of my forces with George's army. Have his captains been notified?"
"All done, your majesty," Rumple said with a grand, flourishing bow. "With George out of the way, it was a simple matter to stroll in and take the castle. His captains were...persuaded...that resistance would be folly, and now you are the official sovereign of dual, adjoining kingdoms. It won't be long before the rest of them topple."
"Not with you at my side," Belle said, with a regal tilt of her head. "Nicely done."
"A pleasure," Rumple said, waving his hand. "And only the first of many gifts I can give you. Kingdoms...wardrobe. The job comes with a fabulous wardrobe."
Belle put her goblet down. "Can you give me magic?" she asked, her face lighting up with eagerness.
"All but that," Rumple said. "Magic is something you're born with an affinity for, and alas, I don't sense that in you." Belle's face darkened and Rumple rushed to reassure her. "Oh, but you've no need of it. I am your magic. Yours to wield as you will."
"You'd do that?" Belle asked, running her fingers lightly up Rumple's arm to his shoulder. "For me?"
Rumple's voice lowered to a quiet, seductive purr. "My queen, for you, I would trample anyone in your path. If they come between you and our future together, I will crush them all."
Belle smiled a slow, catlike smile. "I'm counting on it," she said, and her lips met his.
###
"Are we ready to make sail?" Killian asked as he strode up the gangplank.
"Yes, captain," Archie replied. "I've inspected and tightened the lashings while we waited for you. Any luck with the compass?"
"We've got one hell of a story to tell you," Killian replied, "But it'll have to wait because we need to get underway as quickly as possible. We're heading back to the Enchanted Forest." He climbed the stairs to the wheel deck as Archie greeted the others and they prepared for their journey.
Once he'd put them out into open water, Killian felt a head against his shoulder.
"Hello love," he said, sliding his arm around Emma. "I thought you'd be resting below. You did poof us all the way to the ship."
She lifted her head and smiled up at him. "Yeah, I did, didn't I? Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself."
"You've never failed to impress me, Swan." His eyes held hers, and the warmth in them did something funny to her insides.
"You, too," she said quietly. "I may not have always liked you, but I was impressed anyway."
"That's because you understood me - all too well, I'm afraid. You found my inner hero and now look at me." He grinned down at her. "Off on another whirlwind adventure with my favorite partner."
"You found your inner hero," Emma said. "I only reminded you where to look."
"Semantics. You can deny it all you like, but you're the savior, love. That's a proven fact."
"One that you keep pointing out to me," she said. "So I guess we've both been busy reminding each other about who we ought to be."
He pulled her into him, setting his hook on the wheel to keep it steady so he could lift her face in his hand.
"I'll make a deal with you, Swan. Why don't we stop reminding each other and just be those people. Together."
"Does this mean I don't get to smack you around if you step out of line?" she cracked.
"Apparently, battering a man about the face and head is as good as a proposal in your family. I would expect nothing less from you."
"It's a deal." She settled her head back on his shoulder, and he left his arm about her shoulder, his fingers lightly stroking her cheek.
"I like that," she murmured.
"I have excellent fingers," he said with a sideways grin. "But you know that, love."
She elbowed him in the ribs for that one. "I meant the word. Together."
His hand froze for a moment, and then his lips came down, lingering softly on her forehead. He turned his eyes to open sea, and with the wind ruffling his hair, his feet on the deck and the woman he loved at his side, his world was damn near bloody perfect.
"We'll fix this, love. We'll fix it all. And if something else happens the next day, we'll fix that, too. Together."