A/N: Hi guys! Happy New Year! Hopefully you'll be seeing quite a few more updates from me in the new year since I've decided to do the 365k Challenge, which means I write (at least) 1,000 words a day. I'm excited for it but also nervous. The thousand words will probably, hopefully, be for this until I finish! But we'll see what happens once school starts.
Despite Snow's protests, Vicky offered to come all the way to Maine to get the girls.
"It's the least I can do," Vicky assured her. "Besides, maybe we can all make a little trip out of it. And I'm just dying to see little Emma! She must be a big girl by now!"
Snow giggled. "It's only been a few days."
"Babies change a ton in a few days." Vicky said and Snow had to admit that she was right. In the mere weeks since Emma was born, she'd gotten longer and chubbier and more alert to her surroundings. "So, I should see you all by tomorrow, okay?"
"We're looking forward to it!" After talking briefly with Katie and Lauren, Vicky hung up and Snow followed suit.
"Well if you ever plan to motor west, just take my way that's the highway that's the best! Get your kicks on Route 66!" Vicky belted out the lyrics to Route 66 as she crossed the border into Maine, marveling at the subtle differences between her state and this one that seemed to make all the difference.
She felt a tiny thrill of happiness run through her at the thought of seeing her daughters again. She was close to the girls and even though they'd only been gone for a couple of days, she missed them terribly. The house was too quiet without their constant sisterly bickering. She missed Mary Margaret and Emma, too; Katie's stifled giggling at Mary Margaret's enthusiastic responses to YouTube and Pinterest and Emma's happy giggles and interactions with Katie and Lauren. All of them were like family now and it had been lonely being in the house alone.
The song began to fade into static and she fiddled with the radio, trying to find a station. Vicky was so absorbed in her task and keeping her eyes on the road that she nearly missed the sign welcoming her to Storybrooke as she crossed the town border. Every station played more of the same white noise and she abandoned the radio as a lost cause, focusing her attention instead on her flashing gas light and the sound of her rumbling stomach.
She pulled over to the first gas station in sight and paid the gas attendant after pumping her gas, pulling over into the parking lot of the small food mart. A bell chimed above the door as Vicky entered and a security camera mounted on the wall tracked her movements down the aisle. As she bit her lip trying to decide on a flavor of chips, she didn't notice Regina's entrance and the hush that fell over the other few customers in the store.
Regina's heels clicked on the floor and into the same aisle as Vicky. She spared a glance up at the surveillance camera and cocked her head questioningly. The face of the Magic Mirror appeared briefly in its lens and he nodded. Vicky was who they were looking for. He disappeared with her sharp nod and she fixed a smile on her face worthy of a queen.
"Excuse me," she addressed Vicky, looking down at the woman crouching in the aisle to get a better view of the chips.
"Oh, hi!" Vicky stood quickly, a friendly smile on her face. "Am I in your way?"
"No. I just wanted to introduce myself. It's rare that I see an unfamiliar face around here. I'm Regina Mills, Mayor of Storybrooke." She held out her hand to the woman which Vicky eagerly took.
"Nice to meet you, Mayor Mills! I'm Vicky."
"Well, Vicky, might I ask why you're in town?" Regina forced a light laugh. "New people are so unfamiliar to us here; we're so small we hardly get any tourists."
"Oh, my daughters are here with a family friend. I've just come to, um, I've come to…" A furrow formed between Vicky's brows and her voice was colored in confusion as her thoughts scattered and reformed. She swayed, grabbing hold of a shelf to keep from passing out. "I…" She tried again, but Regina shushed her. Her eyes were beginning to grow heavier and each blink seemed to last a little longer. When she opened her eyes they were no longer in the food mart, but in what resembled a mausoleum. She was sitting down and her head was still foggy but she wasn't as exhausted as she'd been moments ago.
"Listen up, Vicky." Regina's voice had lost all trace of its sugary sweetness and instead sounded imbued with power that struck down to Vicky's core. "I want you to tell me everything you know about Snow White and don't bother lying. A friendly word of advice: don't shake people's hands. You open yourself up to all types of contact magic."
"Snow White? Magic? I…I don't know what you're talking about." Vicky struggled to stand up but, despite her lack of visible restraints, she felt rooted to the spot.
Regina scowled. "A dark haired girl with a baby. Spill."
"You mean Mary Margaret and Emma?" Regina nodded and Vicky found the words spilling out of her no matter how hard she pressed her lips together. "I don't know much. Emma is only a few weeks old and I don't know where Mary Margaret is from, or even her last name. I found her on the side of the road near the woods and took her in. I'm on my way to see her and my daughters now, at some inn. Granny's, they said. Room 103."
A slow grin grew on Regina's face. "Perfect. You've been a great help, Vicky, really."
Vicky opened her mouth to speak but Regina snapped her fingers before she could and she fell unconscious, disappearing in a flash of green smoke. She woke in her car with a faint headache and looked around in confusion, noting her full gas tank and the bag of chips in her hand. She didn't remember going in the store or buying the chips, but she shrugged it off and turned on the radio, happy as music came out instead of white noise. Starting the car, she drove away, looking for the inn where Mary Margaret and her children were staying.