Grace walked into the entrance of the Inn and directly towards her room. She slammed the door shut and went straight to the bathroom. She leaned with her palms on the counter and stared into her own eyes. Her eyes shone with tears and she was trying to hold them back. While being held back by the sobs stuck in her throat, she wiped away her ushered tears. She nervously shook her hands in the air while trying to regain control of her breathing. She stared back into the mirror and could tell right away she was on the edge of crying, which began to annoy her. And before she knew it she screamed loud and angry, while hitting the mirror in her anger. Before she knew what was happening her front door was being kicked open and Regina and Emma stood in front of her bathroom door. Emma armed with a gun pointed at her and Regina stood behind her observing the scenery. There was a moment of silence, both unnerving and awkward at the same time.
Emma and Regina knew where Grace would be going and followed her towards the Inn. They took caution before they entered the Inn, while Grace climbed the stairs with heavy feet. They scurried behind her with Regina behind her for back-up. They were considering knocking on Grace's door before entering. But before they could knock they heard an unnerving scream and without much though Emma was already knocking through the door, and went straight to the source of noise. Emma saw Grace standing there shocked, while hiding away her right hand behind her back.
Grace immediately hided her bruised hand, but figured they would eventually still acknowledge it. Since she already threw a fit at the mirror beside her. She eyed the couple for a few seconds and then straightened her posture and showed her anger, but she still felt very fragile in the precise moment. Emma and Regina looked at each other pointedly and nodded. Emma pulled down her gun and settled it back in her holster and immediately crossed her arms. Grace, still breathing heavily, began to feel unsettling.
'What the hell do you think you're doing here?' Grace asked infuriately.
'We heard you screaming…' Emma said quickly and observed Grace's behavior. She really wasn't expecting for Grace to believe her, she just needed a little more time to see what's she up to.
'That doesn't mean you need to break into my room. Ever heard of privacy!' Grace cried out with anger while throwing her hands in the air and advancing a step forward towards the women.
'Well, since I'm the sheriff. I'm allowed to intrude your privacy. I also have the mayor's approval. And I'm still not buying your story, I can only hear you lying!' Emma said angry and obsessed with finding out Grace's secret. Regina still wasn't merging into the conversation but immediately saw the girl's damaged hand. She touched Emma's shoulder and walked in front of her, carefully so that she didn't frighten the girl.
'We'll come back to this conversation later, your hand is bleeding. You need to get that hand taken care off.' Regina said to both the women. Emma nodded along and took a step back and waited for the girl's agreement. Grace first watched Regina and then observed her hand for the first time. At exactly the same moment she began to feel the pain from the impact with the mirror. Her adrenaline was fading and it made room for the pain to seep through. She sighed and watched coldly at Regina.
'I can take care of it myself, you can go back to your day Mayor. It's completely fine. I'm fine.' Grace said and turned back to the sink and the mirror. Emma was having enough of it and stepped in front of Regina, this time intruding Grace's personal space.
'Fine?! Are you fucking serious? You just punched the mirror in your little temper tantrum, you're being weird and behave awfully suspected! I'm sorry if I don't buy your shit. You're being to coldly and uncaring to give an answer. Excuse me that my lying-detector goes haywire! I wouldn't have bothered if you didn't behave so strange. You're not fine! You're whole attitude doesn't suit me either, miss Carter! Whoever you are!' Emma said while bursting out of her anger. Regina was taken aback by Emma's outrageous reaction. She knew Emma was being reasonable but they were dealing with a teen. Teens don't admit to their secrets and behavior so easily. This girl was one in particular and it still doesn't solve the issue about her hand. Grace stood dumbfounded still, eyeing Emma through the mirror. She didn't speak a single word. Emma was heaving heavily with balled fists watching the teens back intensely, shooting daggers through her.
'Stop it you two! This won't solve anything! sheriff I need you to calm down and go to the other room, I will take care of things here. Miss Carter, go rinse your wound clean. I'll help you if you want it or not. You two will not speak again until we've cleaned your wound! Is that understood!?' Regina said with a stern and serious voice. Both women understood Regina meant business. Emma immediately moved her ass out of the bathroom, obediently agreeing with Regina. But she was having sadistic thoughts about the girl to uncrack her secrets. She needed to take a moment alone. Grace was already quietly rinsing her wound clean, while Regina was searching for the first-aid kit. When Grace stopped the flooding water she took a seat atop the toilet and waited patiently for Regina to get the bandages. Emma was still fuming in the other room, she walked impatiently from the left side of the room to the right. Regina walked towards the girl with the first aid-kit and seated in front of her.
'Give me your hand please' Regina said while extracting her own hand. Grace politely complied. While Regina began to bandage her hand Grace took the opportunity to observe Regina. Regina felt the girls eyes on her but did not say anything about it. When she was done bandaging though, still seated in front of Grace, she looked up at the girl. Grace immediately turned her face towards the living room. But she knew she was caught.
'You know Miss Carter, you and I both know that you're onto something. And The sheriff and I may not know it now. But I'll make a promise to you, if you don't tell us, the consequences may not be so fortunate. If you do tell us now we can maybe figure something out or just talk nicely about it. I understand you must know a few things about protocol procedure in a police station, right?' Regina said with a knowing look towards Grace. Grace shyly nodded and sighed.
'So, would you like to walk that path?' Regina asked the girl again while holding her hand gently. Grace nodded a no, that's what Regina needed to know.
'Well then, come with me to the living room and explain your secret to the sheriff and me, if you would please.' Regina said again and stood up and walked towards the living room.
'Sheriff, please sit down, I believe Grace wants to tell us something?' As Regina gestured to the girl behind her. Grace sighed deeply again and sat herself in the armchair across from Emma and Regina. While the older women waited for Grace, Grace nervously fidgeted with her hands.
'So, I'm about to tell you something, but I need you to listen carefully, alright?' Grace said mysteriously to the women, whom nodded at the same time.
'Okay so, I've been lying to you but only not to mess with something. But you make it impossible for me not to mess up anything. I can only tell you a few things and you have to promise me not to ask more if I say I can't tell you more. Okay?' Grace asked the two women, whom looked puzzled and very interested in what she was saying. Both women first observed each other and complied the Grace's wishes, for now.
'Yes, I've been here before, but not exactly here and now. And first of all I'm not a threat. So don't worry about that. The reason I can't tell you everything is because I'm not from this time… I can mess up the timeline… I'm from the future..' Grace told them quietly and watched their expressions. Regina was shocked, she didn't expected this. Emma was dumbfounded and looked puzzled at the very most. Regina had heard of the phenomenon but hadn't really given it much thought back in the enchanted forest, she was too distracted in the attempt to kill snow. Emma couldn't really phrase a coherent sentence, it was all still swirling in her head.
The future.. what kind of bullshit is this! That's not even possible, Emma thought to herself.
'What year?' Regina asked calmly and observed the girl visibly with grazing eyes, taking in every curve and detail of the girl. As if she could obtain the knowledge herself, without Grace answering the question herself. Regina was kind of skeptical and still kept the conversation and professional and normal as possible. Grace was beginning to get nervous. But did sigh and spoke again.
'2033 to be exactly. And I do live here… but in another century.' Grace told them calmly. Regina gasped and since emma didn't really comprehended everything she kept staring at the girl. There was something very familiar about the girl.
'I don't know how but somehow I ended up here. I'm at my very age that my powers are hitting puberty. I can't control them, they're on haywire. My powers flow through emotion. I've tried to conceal them as long as possible, when people asked me to conceal them. But a few days back I guess I couldn't conceal anymore…' Grace ended her sentence with a heavy and emotional sigh, while a few of her brown locks fall in front of her face. Both Emma and Regina recognized the sigh whom was deeply filled with emotion. Emma was the first to speak towards the girl.
'What happened?' she asked politely. She wanted to break some ice between the girl and her, it looked like she had been through a lot. She knew that before but the pieces just never fit together. Now though, she could slowly puzzle the pieces into one.
'I… I got angry… and I said something I shouldn't have said. I wanted to fix something and that brought me back here, at the very beginning.' Grace explained.
'You said that you have powers, you can't have them unless someone taught you, who are your parents?' Regina asked. Grace nodded a very stern no!
'I can't tell you, I might already have said too much, I should stop.' Grace said nervously while she fidgeted her hands through her hair. Her sweaty hands were visible for the whole world to see, Emma only saw that Grace was shaking. She was afraid of something… Emma stood up abruptly and held her hands up.
'Hey, sorry okay. But what is it you gotta fix then? I suppose you can only return when the problem is solved?' Emma said calmly.
'I don't know what the timeline wants me to do, when actually nothing happened yet. It's too early for that. I should've travelled a few years further.' Grace explained the women again. Regina looked puzzled and was thoughtfully thinking.
'What happened than that needs to be undone?' Regina asked the girl again.
'I can't tell you!' Grace told them angrily and really upset. She was beginning to shake again, this subject must be very emotional to her.
'Well, we can't help you unless you tell us. We might know more then you about something, it's your only chance' Regina spoke again. She was truly willing to help her out. It might be important for the residents of Storybrooke themselves.
'…Chance… That's right. Maybe it is, okay stay seated and listen carefully. Let me finish first. I dunno if this is a good idea, but it might be my only shot.' Both women nodded.
'My parents both possess magic. And my parents are… you guys' Regina and Emma gasped immediately and looked at each other. Emma was in some sort of shock and Regina looked as if she saw a ghost but after a few seconds she looked pointedly at Grace.
'If we have you, did we adopt you?' Regina asked Grace daringly. With that said Emma looked at Regina with mouth agape. She was still consuming the information while Regina just kept questioning, as if she found this normal.
'No' Grace meant only for Regina and then looked at Emma, who was staring at them both. When no-one answered she freaked out and began to speak louder and more hastily.
'And to what conclusion are we?! What does that mean? Hello!' Regina watched Emma's childlike tantrum and tried to ignore the lump in her throat. This could not be happening. She knew what Grace meant when she only directed the answer to her. She must know Regina really good to know how stubborn the woman can be.
'Regina! Tell me!' Emma basically pleaded to Regina.
'It means nothing that concerns you!' Regina said out of fright.
'I'm not buying that! You know I can see when you're lying! Spill it!' Emma said hysterically.
'It means! It means… That Grace is born out of something that is just as pure as you, miss Swan!' Emma looked puzzled at her, a riddle! Great. Emma took some time to overthink it, when suddenly the bomb dropped.
'Wait.. you mean..' Emma mouthed with mouth agape. Constantly opening and closing it. She looked between her and Regina and Grace.