Disclaimer: Hail to King Kitsis and His Highness Horowitz, may all the glory of OuaT go to them.

Chapter 2:

Emma Excerpt

"Damn, mate, that was diverting."

Emma did a double take when she heard Gwen McKinley's parting shot. As soon as she was gone, she asked warily, "You two didn't… or anything last night, did you?"

Hook let out a low dry chuckle and waggled his eyebrows suggestively, "No, love, but thanks for the idea for next time."

Emma grimaced and mentally prayed for brain bleach before retorting, "Yeah, well, I don't know how much valuables are still on the Roger, but you better pray it's enough to cover all your legal fees, especially if you plan on continuing this behavior."

"Who says it's still on me ship, lass?"

Emma rolled her eyes and prayed that David or Neal would show up with her cup of coffee soon. It was going to be a long ass day, in part because of Hook himself but also because she had this niggling feeling that Hook's and McKinley's interactions had greater significance than her initial assessment of instant attraction. And not knowing was going to make her extra-twitchy.

~0~

Later that day…

"Henry, do you know who Gwen McKinley is?"

Pausing halfway through a math problem, her son looked at her quizzically, "Yeah, I know her. She used to clean mom's house. Why?"

Putting yet another ice cream dish away (she was really going to have to put her foot down about that before her son's sweet tooth turned into rotten-tooth), she nonchalantly replied, "Oh nothing in particular…It's just that last night I arrested her for breaking and entering a house…" At her son's horrified expression, she swiftly reassured, "It was a case of mistaken identity so I let her go this morning, but Hook and her seemed to know each other, so I was just curious as to who she was."

The light bulb went on above his head and he let out an excited cry, "Oh! You mean which Fairy-tale character she is!" The grin on his face was worth every bit the embarrassment she had in asking. It faded a little as he scrunched his face in concentration, before stating, "I don't know. I never could figure it out. She was very secretive. Nice to me, but not really open to my questions, you know?"

At her nod, he added, "My mom or grandfather would know, since they seemed to know everyone's story even while the Curse was happening. We could ask them."

She reached across the counter and tussled his hair, "That's okay, kid. We don't need to draw unnecessary attention to her just to satisfy my curiosity."

Henry nodded in agreement, accepting the sad wisdom of her statement with aplomb. Even though Regina and Gold were doing better, the Dark whispered to them.

Henry had just returned to his problem, when she interrupted him again to ask, "You said she used to clean Regina's house. Why doesn't she anymore?"

He shrugged, "She hasn't since the Curse was broken. Mrs. Boyd – Ella's stepmom – had to send Perla, who used to be a mouse, to clean it. A mouse doesn't really hold any grudges about turning human, I guess."

This time it was her turn to nod her head in sad acceptance. There was not much she could say to this, so she let him return to his work.

Placing the last glass away, she wondered to herself if Ashley – Ella – would know, seeing as they had worked for the same company for twenty-eight years.

Now that she had a game plan, she felt far less twitchy. Although, really, she should be far more worried about King George, Maleficent, and Ursula than some poor domestic maid that may have a slight acquaintance with Hook.

But then again, you never know. Especially when it came to that leather-clad, scruffy-looking scoundrel.