Chapter 3

As Emma climbed back into the pick-up – after urging Regina to get into the middle again – she watched as David climbed into his police car.

"He's a cop?" she cried, turning to look at Mary Margaret.

"Actually, so are you. You just don't remember."

Emma smirked. "Yeah, I bet." She sat and hesitated, with the truck door still open, deciding whether to stay in the truck, or bolt. She glanced around, taking in the scenery of the small, unfamiliar town, and wondered where she would go, if she did run. She had no money and apparently her foster mother moved eight years ago. She considered, briefly, that maybe that meant no one was looking for her.

She glanced back at the nervous brown eyes of the girl sitting next to her, and sighed. She didn't look like a runner, and Emma decided it wasn't fair to leave her behind. She had promised her she would have her back, so she slammed the door shut, and slouched into the seat, as Mary Margaret started to drive.

Regina peered out the windshield as they drove. "These people," she said, "some of them look… familiar."

"Everyone here came over from the Enchanted Forest," Mary Margaret explained.

Emma snorted. "The Enchanted Forest, isn't that where Snow White and the Seven Dwarves lived?"

Mary Margaret looked at Emma and sighed. Thankfully, the ride to the loft was a short one. David's cruiser was already there when they pulled up, and Mary Margaret seemed to be taking her time putting the truck into park and getting out. Emma wondered what she was stalling for.

Maybe David needed time to get that three headed dog back in his cage.

Or maybe he was prepping his house to sacrifice herself and Regina to the woodland fairies, or some shit.

Emma was apprehensive, and intrigued, as she followed Mary Margaret and Regina inside. It amazed her how quickly the dark haired girl was to trust a complete stranger. She momentarily considered darting out the door while they ascended the stairs, but, again, her concern for the girl who seemed completely lost in the world overpowered her, and trudged up the stairs behind them, anyway.

Mary Margaret opened the door, and Emma was greeted by the expectant – and overly excited – smile of a brown haired boy who looked about fourteen. She glanced around the room and immediately took note of a baby's crib. The place looked relatively normal, for crazy people.

"That really is them," the boy said, grinning like this whole thing was hilarious to him.

"Emma, Regina," Mary Margaret said, "this is Henry."

Regina immediately curtseyed like the princess she claimed to be, but Emma just narrowed her eyes at Henry, wondering why on earth David thought they needed to be pre-warned about a boy.

"He's your kid?" Emma asked, turning her wary eyes back to Mary Margaret.

"Actually, I'm your kid," Henry said. Emma actually laughed out loud.

"Oh, I have a kid, do I? Right, because I'm actually an adult, magically transformed into a teenager."

Henry nodded, as if there was nothing strange about what she had just said.

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen," Henry answered.

"I managed to keep a kid alive for fourteen years, huh? I guess I didn't turn out to be such a giant screw up after all."

"Actually, Regina raised him, for ten years. You're both his mothers," Mary Margaret said, tentatively.

Regina looked at Emma quickly, her eyes wide with shock. "That's not possible," she insisted. "We're both females. No magic is that strong, and… I wouldn't."

Emma had to laugh, looking at this girl's apparent offense to the idea that she would have been with another girl. She really did lead a sheltered existence, Emma was sure. She wondered if she was homeschooled by some super religious family or something, who didn't let her know about technology or the real world.

"You adopted him, when Emma gave him up," Mary Margaret explained.

Emma's sharp eyes darted to Mary Margaret. "Take that back. I would never give up a kid. Never."

"Mom, it's okay. You didn't have a choice. You were in prison," Henry cut in.

"First of all, don't call me "mom". I'm two years old than you, for crying out loud. Second of all, I've never been to prison, so nice try. This shit isn't funny anymore. I want to go home now," Emma insisted again, not that she had a home to go to.

"Henry, why don't you show Emma where her room is? Let's give her some time to process while we call the fairies," David suggested.

Henry motioned for Emma to follow as he headed to the stairs. Emma grabbed Regina's hand. "We stick together," she said, looking into her dark eyes. Regina nodded.

Once Henry headed back down stairs, Regina sat politely on the edge of the bed while Emma set about tearing through drawers in the room.

"Is that really appropriate?" Regina asked, watching Emma in mild horror.

Emma shrugged. "They said this is my room."

She wasn't sure exactly what she was looking for, but something told her the answer was here, somehow. She whipped open the wardrobe and laughed. "Leather, leather, leather… is that all she… I? Own?"

Regina didn't answer as Emma pulled open a drawer. "Check this out," she said, holding up a shiny Sheriff's badge. "Apparently I'm a Sheriff… with a criminal record… and a kid."

"Why don't you believe in magic?" Regina said, suddenly.

"Because it's not real. Why do you believe?"

"Because it is real. I've been around it my whole life."

Emma didn't answer, and Regina looked over to see she was holding something small in her hand, and looked uneasy.

"What is it, Emma?" she asked.

Emma came over and sat beside her on the bed, holding a small plastic card that looked completely foreign to Regina.

"Driver's license," Emma said. "My name, my birthdate, my signature… but that's not me," she said, pointing at the picture.

"She looks like you," Regina pointed out, "just a little older."

Emma shook her head. "Please tell me you don't believe this crap?"

"How can I not?"

Emma sat in silence a little while longer, flipping the card over and over in her hand, trying to make sense of this. It had gone on way too long to be a dream, and if it was a prank, it was extremely elaborate.

"What did you mean before," Regina started, finally breaking the silence, "when you said you had to earn your room and board on your back."

Emma shifted uncomfortably. "Nothing. I just… I just made it up, that never happened. Don't worry about it," she said, standing up and pacing the room. Regina looked around as she saw the lights around them start flicking. She looked back at Emma, whose hands were shaking with nervous energy, and it wasn't hard to make the connection.

"Emma, how can you not believe in magic, when it's all around us, right now?" she asked, standing.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Emma exclaimed. As she did so, three of the light bulbs blew out, causing them both to jump.

"That's magic!" Regina insisted.

"Stop it!"

"I'm not doing it, you are."

Emma looked around the room. The lights were going even more haywire now. She had meant for Regina to stop talking about magic, but she realized Regina thought she meant stop making the lights flicker. And Regina thought she was doing it.

Emma felt panic rising, as this was not the first time something like this had happened, and it wasn't the first time someone had accused her of causing it, somehow.

But magic wasn't real.

Was it?

As her anxiety rose, things in the room began to shake.

"Stop it!" Regina cried, and Emma could see the absolute fear in her eyes. Suddenly it didn't matter what she believed about the existence of magic, this was actually happening, right now, and she didn't know what to do.

"How?"

"I don't know," Regina admitted.

"No! No, you're insisting magic is real, so tell me how to stop it!"

Regina glanced toward the stairs, where David and Mary Margaret were standing, looking just as scared as she felt. She wanted them to step in, but they were making no moves to do so. She turned back to Emma and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Magic is emotion. You need to calm down."

"I can't!" Emma insisted.

"Try," Regina implored her.

Emma took a deep breath, and looked into Regina's dark eyes, trying to find her center there. She reached up and grabbed Regina's wrists, to make sure she didn't let go of her shoulders, and focused on controlling her breathing as she kept staring into Regina's eyes.

Slowly, her heart rate returned to normal, and the shaking and the flickering stopped, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"You believe now?" Regina asked, finally.

Emma glanced between her and the couple on the stairs and sighed. She didn't really see what other choice she had.