A/N: Hello again fellow Oncers. I guess it is safe to say that this story is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. So I present chapter four. In this chapter we kind of steer away from Henry and Bae for a bit, but we do get a glimpse of some more familiar faces. As usual, I own nothing but my plot line. The characters belong to Disney and ABC and the creators of this wonderfully magical show. Enjoy!

Chapter Four

The huntsman was about to leave the square. It had been a long day, still no leads. Not that he had expected any such luck. In a way, he supposed Lady Luck had been on his side after all. Graham truly had no desire to find the girl, unless he took long enough to consider self-preservation, then it grew within him like a flame. But... if he was alone in his room, he would hope to all the gods that would listen, that the girl wouldn't be found. Then, there was that other matter. That other was the only real reason he was still undertaking the task at all.

"Excuse me Sir, excuse me!" A shrill shrieking entered his consciousness.

He turned, just quick enough to be able to avoid being barreled over by a small older woman. Graham recognized her as the owner of the Apothecary just down the road from this tavern. She held out in her hand the parchment, the very same parchment he recalled presenting to a lad earlier this same day. The wrinkles, the kind that resulted from crumpling, marred the young woman's sketched features. "Yer lookin' for her still?"

Graham allowed his gaze to travel from the likeness of the disgraced princess to this woman. "Aye,"

"The lad that just left," She frowned. "I've a bad feeling."

"Why is that Ma'am?" The boy had seemed a decent sort, if a bit jittery, but as the woman explained, he frowned. Her Majesty would not like this. Not at all.

The woman sat up. The only word that popped into her mind was fuzzy. The last thing she remembered, she'd been scaling a tree, trying to reach an apple. But now, she was sitting in the dark, able to see nothing, but hearing the distinct sound of metal against stone as she attempted to wrench her arms free.

"H...hello!" Emma shouted, but she could barely hear her own voice. "Is anyone there?"

"Hello Dear." She was blinded as a sudden light entered the room revealing a woman behind it. Regal, that was the way to describe her. She was dressed in black from head to toe, in a gown fancier than even Emma's best dresses. It took a few moments, but it dawned on her who this woman was. This was the woman Papa and Granny had warned her and Auggie about. She was the reason why she, August, and Ruby had to scheme and beg in order to even do something as mundane as apple picking. This woman in front of her, outside of the cell, with a sneer reflected in the glow of a magicked fireball, was the Evil Queen.

He ran as fast as his legs would carry him. It was his fault. If hadn't tried to lose Ruby, because he thought he was too old for a chaperone then maybe Emma would still be with him. If he hadn't ignored the shadow in the tree, then maybe he wouldn't have to tell Papa and Granny that Emma had been kidnapped. He was old enough to know. Gods! Papa had lectured them enough times about watching each other.

If he had known...well there was no going back now. He saw Ruby, and then the tears began.

"Auggie?" The young woman frowned as she saw the tear stains on his cheeks. She looked around, but could not find his older sister anywhere. She could feel the panic rising before she even spoke. "What happened? Where's Emma?"

August swallowed looking up before shaking his head. "It happened so fast. I…" He stopped choosing silence. If he said anything more, he was certain that he would fail in any effort to make the journey home.

Ruby walked over placing a hand on his shoulder. "We'll search together."

August stood a bit straighter, but couldn't bring himself to do anything but frown. If Ruby didn't buy into his attempt at bravado, she didn't let on.

He knew they most likely wouldn't find anything, but somehow simply the act of walking back the way he came was enough to twist his tears into something useful. Whatever it took, he would find out who had done this.

A/N: So, we got a glimpse of Graham, Emma, August and Ruby. Not as much evil queen as I promised. This chapter kind of took its own turn (within my plan, but still...) If you want to know anything about what spurred this idea, or clarification on things feel free to PM me or ask in a review. I don't want to give too much away, but if general questions come up I'll answer them in author's notes as well. Also if you have any theories about the show, feel free to PM. I always love talking about the show. Also, just a quick poll out of my own curiosity, have any of you read, are reading or written any fanfics for this show that you enjoyed, and what made them great? I am possibly considering starting a community, and I'd love to know, what makes a really standout story for this fandom? I'll share some of mine in the author's note for the next chapter. Until next time!