Max sat in a booth at Granny's, looking through the newspaper for a job.
"You know, since I'm sheriff, I have enough money in my budget for a deputy." Emma said, sitting across from Max.
"Really?" Max smiled. "You want me to be deputy?
"Why not?." Emma replied and her phone rang, "Looks like you get to go out onto the field right now. Ready?"
"Let's go." Max answered and they left the diner.
When the two women arrived at the store, Henry, Regina, and two other children were there.
"Henry. What happened?" Emma asked.
"Ms. Swan, must I remind you that genetics mean nothing?" Regina replied. "You're not his mother, and it's all taken care of."
"I'm here because I'm the sheriff." Emma said.
"Then why is she here?" Regina questioned, glaring at Max.
"She's my new deputy." Emma answered before they continued over to the children.
"Did you call their parents?" Emma asked Clark.
"Uh, the number they gave me was... disconnected." Clark answered.
"Did you guys give Mr. Clark a fake number?" Emma questioned and they shook their heads, "Then why is it disconnected?"
"'Cause our parents couldn't pay the bill." The girl answered.
Max reached over and grabbed the toothpaste, "You guys were just trying to help out, huh?"
"Please. Please don't arrest us." The girl begged. "It'll just make things worse for our parents."
Emma and Max pitched in some money to buy the things that Ava and Nicholas were trying to steal, and they drove the children to their house.
"This it?" Emma asked, pulling up to a blue house and Ava nodded.
Emma turned off the car and took off her seat belt and opened the door, "Please, no."
"If our parents see you, they'll be so embarrassed." Ava said.
Emma closed the door, "Did Henry tell you about my superpower?"
"We just met him." Ava retorted.
"I have the ability to tell when anyone is lying." Emma said, "So tell me the truth. Money problems aside, is everything okay at home?"
"Yeah, we're great." Ava answered. "Can we go?"
"All right."
The two kids got out and stood on the steps and waved to Max and Emma as Emma drove away and stopped around the corner.
"Why'd we stop?" Max asked.
"They were lying." Emma answered and they both got out of the car.
They broke into the house that Ava said was hers and saw them sneaking up from a door in the ground.
"Why'd you guys lie to me?" Emma asked. "Where are your parents?"
"We don't have any." Ava answered.
Emma brought the kids back to their apartment, and while she talked to Mary Margret, Max sat with the kids as they ate breakfast. Ava heard the conversation and walked up behind Emma,
"We're gonna be separated?"
"No. That's not gonna happen." Emma replied.
"Please. Please don't let it." Ava cried.
Max stayed to watch the kids while Emma went to go find the birth father. It was after lunch when the kids were eating cookies when Emma came back,
"I want to show you guys something." Emma said and she pulled a blanket out of a box,
"What's that?" Nicholas asked.
"My baby blanket." She answered, "It's something I've held on to my whole life. It's the only thing that I have from my parents. I spent a lot of time with a lot of kids in your situation, and all of them... all of us... we held onto stuff. I want to find your father, but I need your help. Is there anything of his you've held onto?"
"I might have something." Ava replied, "But if I give it to you, you'll make sure we stay together, right?"
"Right." Emma responded and Ava gave her a compass,
"Our mom kept it." Ava said, "She said it was our dad's."
"Thank you."
"Did you find them?" Ava asked.
"Who?"
"Your parents."
"Not yet." Emma answered, "But I'm gonna find yours."
About an hour or so later, Max got a call on her cell phone,
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's me." Emma said on the other line, "I need you to come outside right away."
"Is everything okay?" Max asked.
"Don't say anything in front of the kids, but no, it's not."
Max left Ava and Nicholas with Mary Margret and Henry while she went outside to talk to Emma,
"He doesn't want the kids." Emma said.
"And you don't want to tell them?"
"I can't, because all I'll be telling them is that the false hope I gave them is exactly that." Emma replied.
"The truth can be painful, Emma, but it can also be cathartic." Max said
"I agree on the painful part." Emma responded.
"Well, you told Henry the truth about how his father is dead-"
"I didn't tell him the truth." Emma retorted.
"What?"
"Henry's father was no hero, and trust me, he does not need to know the real story." Emma said. "Maybe we can hide the kids, just until we can find a family for them, someone to take care of them."
"Yes, hiding the 12 year olds is a good plan." Max replied.
"You have a better idea?" Emma asked.
"Maybe there isn't a better idea." Max responded. "Maybe you just have-"
"Sheriff?" Regina questioned, walking up to Emma and Max, "Shouldn't you be on the interstate?"
"What are you doing here?" Emma asked.
"Seeing to it that you do your job." Regina answered.
"You know you don't need to check up on me." Emma said. "I know what I have to do."
"Really? Because those kids are supposed to be in Boston tonight."
Max helped the kids get ready, and Emma took them to the car to take them to Boston. In the end, the kids got to stay together. The car's engine stalled and she called the father. He ended up taking the kids. Ava and Nicholas got their happily ever after.