It was roughly nine in the morning when Emma woke up to the sound of her cellphone ringing. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she picked her head off of her desk where she'd fallen asleep a few hours ago. While she knew she could have taken a cot in one of the two available cells, she decided against it, knowing that if she were to wake up in a half-asleep state, she might end up briefly panicking upon noticing she was inside a jail cell. Pushing aside the bad memoires, Emma reached out to pick up the still-ringing phone.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Emma, there you are!" David's voice replied, a barely-suppressed note of panic in his tone. "When your mother and I saw your bed was empty, we thought you were…. Where are you?"

"I crashed at the sheriff's station," Emma explained, starting to realize they might have been worried she had ended up being among the people who disappeared. "Sorry. I didn't want to wake you two up by coming in late."

"It's okay," David assured. "We're heading out to the hospital now, so we'll pick you up on the way."

"Wait, the hospital?" Emma asked. "Did something happen? Henry! Is he….?"

"No, Henry's fine! Early this morning, Anton went out to the bean fields again."

"Did he find anything this time?" Emma instantly felt a wave of sympathy for her giant friend. Ever since the bean fields had been burned by an angry Regina, Anton had been trying, perhaps in vain, to revive the beans. While some people in town thought Anton was wasting his time, Emma understood his determination. Those beans were all he had left from his brothers, so it made sense that he would try so hard to bring them back.

"Unfortunately, the field still isn't producing any beans," David replied, sympathy woven into his voice. "But when he went out today, he found a man passed out on the ground."

"Who was it?"

"That's the thing. No one knows. He didn't have any identification on him. But more importantly was what he was wearing when he was found. Emma, he was dressed as if he'd just came from the Enchanted Forest."

"Wait, how is that possible? He'd have needed a magic bean, or….."

"That's why we're heading down there now; to ask him how he got here. And maybe…."

"Maybe he knows something about the disappearances!" Emma exclaimed, catching on to what her father was getting to.

"Exactly," David confirmed.

Less than ten minutes later, Emma, David and Mary Margret had arrived at the Storybrooke hospital, where Dr. Whale had escorted them to the room where the mysterious stranger had been placed. Upon stepping into the room, the man, now fully conscious, fixed them with a leery glance. Immediately, Emma concluded David had been right. She didn't recognize this man at all and, judging by the expression on her parents' faces, they didn't either.

"Hello," Emma began. "I realize you're probably feeling very confused right now. Especially if we're right in believing you came from the Enchanted Forest. Can you tell us how you got here?"

"How am I supposed to know if I can trust you?" the man asked, eyeing Emma as if sizing her up. "I don't even know your name. For all I know, you're the one responsible in bringing me to this land." At these words, Emma had to suppress a smile, feeling an instant respect for this man.

"Okay, that's fair," she allowed. "I'm Emma Swan, the sheriff of Storybrooke." At these words, Emma noticed a slight narrowing of the man's eyes.

"A sheriff," he muttered. "I haven't had many good experiences with sheriffs."

"It's okay." Mary Margret spoke up. "You can trust us. You're among friends here." Upon hearing Mary Margret speak, the man glanced over to her. Almost instantly, a look of recognition appeared on his face.

"You're Snow White, aren't you?" he asked.

"Oh! Have we met?"

"Not quite, but there was a time when our faces graced Wanted posters side by side. Robin of Locksley, at your service."

"Robin? You mean…Robin Hood?" Emma asked, internally wondering if she'd ever stop getting surprised at finding out another fictional character was real.

"I see my reputation precedes me," Robin replied.

"So, how did you get here?"

"I was out in the woods with the rest of the Merry Men. We were hunting, trying to find something for our dinner. Much heard something moving around in the bushes and fired off an arrow, thinking it was a rabbit or a pheasant. But it was something else instead. A strange creature with wings. I've never encountered the likes of it before. When Much's shot flushed it out of hiding, the creature tried to attack us. Most of us managed to dodge the creature, but…my son, Roland; he was snatched up by the beast. I grabbed at the creature's legs as it passed me, trying to stop it from taking Roland, but instead, it managed to fly off, carrying the both of us with it. I'm not sure how long we were flying, but the Merry Men were well out sight when a clearing appeared below us. In the center of the clearing, there was a swirling vortex of green light. Almost like a whirlpool, except it was on solid ground. The winged beast, still carrying my son and me, began to make its way down to the ground, flying towards it. I'm afraid I don't remember much else after that. All I remember was, right before the winged creature carried Roland and me into the whirlpool, I caught a glimpse of a figure standing right next to it, dressed all in black. The next thing I remember, I was lying on the ground, next to your… it was a bean field, was it? That's what your friend said when he came across me."

As Robin's story came to its end, Emma shared a glance with her parents.

"And you're sure you can't remember anything else?" Emma asked. "Anything about the person you saw standing in the clearing? Or the creature who took you and your son; can you describe it?"

"Not very well. Just that… it was covered with grey fur. And had a long tail. And I barely saw the person.

"Okay, then. Thank you for your help. If you happen to remember anything else, please let us know."

"Wait! My son, Roland!" Robin exclaimed, suddenly sitting up straighter, looking as if he was about to jump out of the hospital bed. "Has anyone found him? Is he okay?" Immediately, Emma's face shifted into a sympathetic expression.

"I'm sorry. No one's seen him. You were the only one we found by the bean field. But I promise you, we will find him. A lot of people in town are also missing, and we're doing everything we can to figure out what happened to them. Chances are, when we find the missing people, we'll find your son, too."

"And you expect me to just sit around and wait for that to happen?" Robin challenged, trying to climb out of bed, prompting David to stride forward and hold him back.

"Believe me, I know how you feel," Emma assured in a gentle tone. "I have a son, too. And it was only a few months ago that he was kidnapped. I had to cross realms in order to get him back. I know what you must be going through now. So I promise you, I'll find out what happened to Roland and get him back. But right now, you need to sit tight. Just for a little while. You said yourself you lost consciousness for a while. Dr. Whale wants a chance to look you over, to make sure you didn't have a concussion or some other internal injury. It won't do Roland any good if you put yourself at risk."

After convincing Robin to stay put until the following morning, Emma stepped back into the hall to convene with David and Mary Margret.

"A green swirling vortex," David mused. "That almost sounds like a portal created by a magic bean."

"It would certainly explain how Robin and whoever is behind all of this managed to get to Storybrooke," Mary Margret agreed. "The question is, how'd they manage to obtain one?"

"I think we're forgetting something important," Emma pointed out. "The disappearances have been going on for a few weeks now. From Robin's story, he only just arrived in Storybrooke. If the person he saw before entering the magic bean portal is the one behind it, they might have been traveling back and forth for a while now. That explains why no one's seen anything out of the ordinary. They weren't avoiding detection by hiding out beyond the town line. They were hiding out back in the Enchanted Forest."

"But how could anyone travel between Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest so easily?"

"Don't you see? Robin was found next to Anton's bean field. Maybe that's how this person's doing it. We spent all this time thinking Anton wasn't having any luck in savaging the beans, because they didn't seem to be growing anything. But what if the beans were being grown successfully, and someone has been snatching them up as soon as they form, before anyone else had a chance to notice them? They could have plenty of magic beans hidden away by now."

"But that means it could have been anyone," David pointed out. "If they're able to travel between Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest indiscriminately, did they start off in the Enchanted Forest or is it someone who was already in Storybrooke?"

"I don't know," Emma admitted. "But I think I know how to find out."

Just as Emma was about to head off, she froze in place when she heard the voice, calling her name.

"Swan?" Immediately, Emma, David and Mary Margret all turned to see Hook making his way down the hall, heading towards them. "Is everything all right? I ran into Anton the giant outside Granny's. He told me about the man he found, and said you were going to come down and find out his story." Emma, instead of replying, could only stare at him in shock. She hadn't expected to see him here. The appearance of Robin in town had driven away all thoughts of what had happened during the night, but now that he was here, standing right in front of her, the memories all came rushing back, and her mind began to replay the sounds she'd heard coming from his room. While Emma's reaction didn't go unnoticed, Mary Margret made an effort to alleviate the situation by filling Hook in on what they'd figured out.

"So, this person might have been hiding in the Enchanted Forest all along?" Hook summarized when the story was done. "Well, I suppose I feel a bit better now. I wasn't looking forward to letting you all know we didn't find anything during our search of the area past the town line. Good to know that there was nothing to find, anyway. I didn't much care for the feeling of letting you down." As he finished speaking, he turned and gave Emma a gigantic smile. It was the sight of his large grin that finally snapped Emma out of it, and her shock was replaced by a fresh wave of anger. This man had probably spent all night in the arms of that faceless, nameless woman, and he now had the nerve to stand here, smiling at her as if nothing had happened?

"Thanks for the report," Emma replied stiffly. Without another word, she turned and started to walk off.

"Swan?" Hook called after her, breaking into a light jog to keep up with her retreating figure. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. In case you've forgotten, we have a crisis on our hands, and thanks to…I can't believe I'm not used to this by now…thanks to Robin Hood, we actually have an idea of how to figure out what we're up against. To think, we can learn more from someone we just met than someone who was supposed to do something useful yesterday by finding out who was behind the disappearances." Even as she said those words, Emma internally cringed at her angry retort, knowing that she wasn't being fair. So she wasn't too surprised when Hook gripped her shoulder with a gentle firmness and made her turn around to face him.

"No, Swan, something is wrong," he disagreed, searching her face with a careful scrutiny. "Please, whatever the problem is, you can trust me." Unfortunately, the moment Hook uttered the word 'trust,' Emma's ire increased tenfold. This man had the gall to vow he'd win her heart honorably and then turn around and have loud sex with some random woman he picked up at the local bar. And he was now saying she could trust him?

"My problem, Hook," Emma snapped, finally unleashing her anger, "is that I was there last night"

"Last night?" Hook asked, slightly cocking his head in confusion. "I don't…"

"I went to Granny's last night!" Emma interrupted, her words overflowing with rage. "I spent all day yesterday, thinking about how much you helped us in Neverland, and how you were now going out of your way to help us figure out these disappearances, even though you didn't have a reason to help us either time. And I, like an idiot, actually thought that you might prove to be different. That you really meant everything you said to me. So I went to Granny's last night, seeking you out. Because I was stupid enough to think it was worth taking a chance with you. But when Granny said you hadn't come back yet, I decided to wait for you. I even rented the room next to yours. Guess what? I was still there when you arrived back around 2 in the morning. Which means I heard, Hook. I heard you and her, whoever she was."

"What are you….?" Hook's words stopped abruptly as his eyes grew wide with shock. "Oh. OH!" For a brief moment, Hook's eyes glazed over, as if seeing something that wasn't there, but then, with an expression that was a strange mix between embarrassment and urgency, snapped his attention back to Emma. "I can explain."

"Don't bother," Emma hissed, giving him a death glare. "I don't care what excuse you've come up with. Whatever you have to say, I'm not interested. It's too late." At these words, Hook gave a sharp intake of breath, hearing an underlining meaning to her words.

"Just what are you saying?" he asked. For a brief moment, Emma felt her words catch in her throat, and not just because of how Hook's voice slightly shook with barely-suppressed fear. It was if every fiber of her being was trying to keep her from uttering the words she was planning to say, screaming at her to reconsider. However, Emma had learned a long time ago how to block out that feeling, and internally steeled herself for what came next.

"I'm saying," she began, turning to walk away, "is that from now on, I want you to leave me alone."

"Wait," Hook pleaded, reaching out to catch her wrist with his hook to stop her from walking off. "You don't…. Emma, please, just hear me out! That wasn't…."

"I said I wasn't interested!" Emma cried, yanking her arm back. Even with her fury blazing, Emma still couldn't help but notice how Hook hadn't even tried to hold on to her, and simply let go when he felt her pull away, and when she turned to glower back at him, she was met with an expression that once again nearly made her resolve crumble. Hook was staring at her with more devastation and grief than she'd ever thought possible. It was the look of a man who had just been sentenced to death. For a brief moment, Emma felt her anger starting to be overpowered with the need to console the man standing before her, but then David suddenly appeared, stepping between them, and the spell was broken. Wordlessly, Emma closed her eyes and allowed Mary Margret to usher her away, focusing on blocking out the sound of David's voice as he began directing a long tirade at the pirate.

AN: And Robin enters the story. While Captain Swan is my OTP, I low-key ship Outlaw Queen. I do feel bad for putting Roland in danger, but there's a point to it, I promise.

Hope everyone is still enjoying the story. Please remember to leave a review. I always appreciate them.