A/N: thanks for all the positive responses. I will reply to them all in due course! And apologies for the delayed update. I was away for the weekend but really wanted to get up what I had written before I went. As previous readers of my work will know, I usually try to publish almost daily.

Also, I just finished watching the season finale and OH MY GOD!

Regina rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, thinking. A frown creased her forehead as no discernible legal loophole came to mind and she reluctantly cracked one eye opened and focused on the computer screen in front of her. The case information stared back at her, tauntingly. She turned away and looked out of her office window. The western facing wall was completely made of glass and she smiled as she watched the snow falling thickly outside. She could barely see the other side of the street as the flakes tumbled over each other in a bid to reach the white road below first. Regina smiled at the thought of rushing through her workload, wrapping up this infuriating case, and going home with her son. Henry loved the snow.

A knock on her door offered a momentary distraction from the brick wall she was trying to break through. Calling out 'enter,' Regina looked expectantly at her assistant as she backed into the room with a coffee in one hand, a take-away container in the other, and a stack of papers under her arm.

"They didn't have any prawns so I got you the cous cous salad instead," Mary Margaret said as she placed the food down on Regina's desk, the coffee landing beside it. "And here are those files Mrs Mills mentioned."

"Thank you," Regina said, taking the pile of papers and glancing quickly at the handwritten note stuck to the top of them. "Did you hear back from Gold and Locksley?"

"Not yet," Mary Margaret said, shaking her head.

"Let me know as soon as you do," she ordered, prising the lid off the food and trying not to snap at her assistant. It wasn't her fault the restaurant were incapable of ordering the right stock nor that she was waiting to receive a response from another lawyer before she could move forward in the case.

Regina took a sip of her coffee before turning her attention to her food. She was about to eat when she Mary Margaret was still hovering in front of the desk. Regina placed her fork down, looking up expectantly.

"What?"

"Um, I was just wondering if you had had a chance to approve the two weeks of leave I requested," the brunette said, her hands wringing together nervously. "It's just that David and I need to book our flights for the honeymoon but we don't want to do that until we know if I can definitely go."

"Yes, I have," Regina nodded, reaching into her desk drawer and pulling out the piece of paper. She hadn't deliberately not told her assistant that she had approved her leave weeks ago. It had just … slipped her mind. Repeatedly.

"Thank you," Mary Margaret said, a wide smile across her face.

"You're welcome," Regina replied. "Now, if you wouldn't mind." She gestured to her lunch and Mary Margaret nodded once before scuttling from the room.

Regina huffed out a sigh when the door closed behind the pixie haired brunette and turned her attention back to her computer. As the first forkful reached her lips, a vague memory of a little known law floated into her mind. She smiled as she realised she could, and would, win the case.

August pressed the button on the side of his watch which illuminated the face and frowned at the numbers glowing in the dark. It was after two in the morning. Emma should have been back over an hour ago. He listened intently but only the usual sounds of the park at night filtered down into the tunnel. He wondered whether he should have tried to talk her out of going, whether it would be his fault if anything happened. Just as he was trying to work out what he would do if Emma didn't come back, footsteps sounded.

Emma trudged heavily into the tunnel, shaking the snow from the toes of her boots and grumbling about the cold. She slid beneath the blanket August was holding out for her and shivered exaggeratedly.

"You're late," August remarked as he tucked the blanket back around both of their bodies.

"Sorry," Emma said. "He said I could have a shower but then I wanted to dry my hair so I didn't get hypothermia. Were you worried?"

"You know I'm always worried when you're with him," August replied. "Em, do you really have to keep doing this?"

Wordlessly, Emma handed over the twenty dollar bill she had been given just before she left the hotel room. She wasn't proud of what she had done and she certainly didn't want to be doing it. But she knew that without the man's money, she wouldn't be able to survive.

August took the note, folded it carefully, and tucked it inside his jacket pocket. His arm slid around Emma's shoulder and tugged her closer to his body. She smelt good; her hair was fresh and shiny.

"It's once a week August," Emma said quietly. "He's a nice enough guy and he doesn't hurt me. It's not like I'm standing on street corners any more."

Any more.

The pair rarely spoke about how they had met. Emma didn't like to think about that night and August didn't want to bring up painful memories for his friend. Both of them were simply grateful he had been passing the end of the alleyway and had heard her cried for help. Ever since then, the two of them had had each other's backs and Emma had stopped her late night work. Except for this one man. It wasn't that she liked him and she certainly didn't enjoy the sex. But he had been a regular client of hers and when she had bumped into him several weeks after she had disappeared from the street, they had come to an arrangement. Once a week. That was all. And it meant Emma could buy food and keep herself just a little warmer.

"Any plans for tomorrow?" August asked, moving the conversation on from the uncomfortable subject.

"I'm going to head down to Fifth Avenue in the morning," Emma said. "It's still super crowded because of all the sales on after Christmas. I got stepped on so many times last week and barely got any money but it's pretty sheltered and there's a doorway which the snow hasn't filled up yet. What about you?"

"I've got a meeting," August said.

"A meeting?" Emma frowned. "Who with?"

"An old army buddy," the man shrugged.

"How did he find you?" Emma asked. Homeless people moved a lot and with no mobile phones, they were notoriously difficult to keep track of. Aside from one another, Emma and August didn't have any other connections within the city. At least, Emma thought August didn't.

August shifted slightly, trying and failing to find a comfortable position on the hard tunnel floor. "He's on the streets too. We used to hang out together before I met you and I went over to that corner of town yesterday to see if he was still there."

"It's sad how our country don't take care of their servicemen," Emma said, squeezing August's gloved hand which was dangling over her shoulder. "You offered up your lives and then as soon as you're not fit to serve, you're dropped from the system, left to fend for yourself."

"Yeah, well, what are you going to do about it?" August said. He sounded defeated, like he had resigned himself to the fact that his life has become, and would always be, the streets.

"We'll get through this, August," Emma assured him. "You and me. We're not going to be living out here forever, I promise you."

"Yeah?" August sighed. "And just how are we going to do that. You've said it before Em. No one wants to hire an army vet with PTSD or an ex-con. We're never going to get jobs so we're never going to have enough money for rent. This tunnel is our home."

"For now," Emma nodded. "But we will get work eventually. I just … I need to find someone who will give me a chance. I'm going to ask around tomorrow actually. The shower this evening will make me look at least somewhat presentable and I found that white shirt last weekend. Someone will have a pot-washing job or something going."

August didn't reply. He loved Emma's optimism but it wasn't something he shared. After almost two years on the streets, he had already accepted his new lifestyle. He hated it, true, but he could no longer see a way out. Emma had been homeless for seven months and still believed it was possible to turn her life around. August hoped the young blonde was right, but he was doubtful. He didn't voice this however and instead the two of them snuggled closer, drifting off to sleep as snow continued to fall.

"Can we build a snowman when we get home?" Henry asked excitedly as Regina helped him wriggle his fingers into his gloves.

"Perhaps," Regina nodded. "But you have to promise you'll have a hot bath as soon as we've finished because I don't want you getting sick."

Henry grumbled but nodded. Baths were not his favourite. However, the fact that is mother had picked him up almost on time that day meant he was in a very amenable mood. A bath was a small price to pay in exchange spending most of Friday afternoon with his mother and building a snowman.

When he was all wrapped up, Regina picked up his bag and put it on his back. They waved farewell to Ruby and left the restaurant. Henry walked carefully down the snowy streets, kicking up sludgy white clods as Regina held tightly to his hand. Her heels had been tucked into her handbag and on her feet were a pair of rarely-worn trainers. They did not go with her Prada suit but neither did landing on her ass in the middle of the street so she had foregone fashion for the sake of staying upright. The road outside Granny's was still flooded, the recent snow having halted work all together, so Regina and Henry traced over what was already a familiar route up to 56th Street where Graham and the town car were waiting for them.

"Mama, what happens to the people with no homes when it snows?" Henry asked.

Regina knew why he had asked her that question. They were passing the exact same spot on Park Avenue as they had the previous week, where the blonde woman with striking green eyes had been huddled. Neither of them had mentioned the beggar to each other until that moment but Regina had been keeping an eye out for her every day since then. It seemed her son had too.

"I'm not quite sure," Regina admitted. "There are shelters they can go to and get beds for the night and some food. But I'm afraid a lot of them have to sleep outside."

"Don't they get cold?" Henry asked, his own pale face turned up towards his mother's.

"I'm sure they do," Regina nodded. "Especially when it's snowing."

"I wouldn't want to be homeless," Henry mused.

"I don't think they want to be homeless either."

"Then why are they?" Henry asked. "Don't they have families they can live with?"

"Sometimes they do," Regina nodded. "But sometimes they don't want to live with them. Their families might not be very nice. And sometimes they might not have anyone to look after them."

"They might not have a family?" Henry frowned. That didn't make sense. Everyone had a mom and a dad, didn't they?

"No," Regina said. "Sometimes people don't have anyone to love them."

Henry was silent for a minute, his gaze fixed on the sidewalk. "That's sad," he said after a long pause.

"Yes," Regina nodded, remembering the hauntingly despairing gaze of the blonde beggar. "Yes it is."

Emma tried hard not to slam the door when she left the twentieth restaurant who had turned her down. She rubbed her freezing hands together and glanced up and down the road, wondering where to try next. It was almost dark and the streets were full of busy commuters, slipping and sliding their way to the nearest subway entrance. She turned to the right and headed towards the place she had been avoiding all day.

She didn't know quite why she hadn't gone there yet. Perhaps it was because the restaurant was the one place she thought she might actually have a chance at getting work. It wasn't that she didn't want to work, however. She did. But she wanted to get the job because they wanted and needed her, not because they felt sorry for her. She hated that pitying look she had seen in the eyes of so many people that day, just before their features hardened and she was turned down.

Granny's was busy, the bright light spilling out onto the sidewalk and several waitresses moving quickly between packed tables. Knowing that the dinner rush was not going to be the best time to ask for work, Emma stepped into the narrow alleyway which ran down the side of the building and leaned against the wall. The wind died down as she did so and the overhang of the building protected her from the worst of the snowfall. She slid down until she was sitting and pulled out a packet of crisps. August had come to see her on Fifth Avenue that afternoon and had given her some of the food he had bought for them. They always ate well on Fridays, after Emma had … worked. Well, except for last week when Emma had spent the money on a new blanket. The old one was becoming almost unbearably dirty and smelly.

Slowly, the noise from the diner quietened and the regular tinkling of the bell told Emma people were leaving. When a particularly large group of patrons passed the end of the alley, she pushed herself to her feet. Wiping the snow from her hair and the crumbs from her shirt, Emma took a deep breath before stepping out into the street and pushing open the diner door.

The place was almost empty, as she had hoped, and she quickly spotted the friendly waitress wiping down a table in the far corner. The grey-haired woman behind the counter looked at her with distain before holding out a menu. Customers were customers, after all.

"Um, no thanks," Emma said, approaching the counter and sliding herself onto one of the stools. "I've actually come here to ask if you have any jobs available."

She had hoped to speak to Ruby herself but was quickly realising that she had overlooked the fact that Granny's was probably not run by the lanky young waitress.

"A job?" Grey eyebrows raised sceptically. "I'm afraid we don't need anyone at the moment."

Emma doubted that was the truth but wasn't going to argue. So she thanked the older woman for her time, climbed off the chair and headed for the door.

"Hey!"

The call made her turn around. Ruby was walking towards her, a wide grin on her face. Emma smiled shyly back. She didn't exactly have friends, aside from August, but she liked the brunette. She just wished they had met under different circumstances. Rummaging through a dumpsters wasn't the best first impression. It had been five months since Ruby had caught her with her head in the diner's garbage and offered her some of the leftover bread. Emma tried not to come back too often but when her money ran out, she sometimes had no choice.

"Hi," Emma said, as Ruby reached her, the dishcloth tossed carelessly onto another empty table.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked. There was no bite in her tone but Emma bristled all the same. It sounded to her like the brunette didn't think she belonged in the customer side of the restaurant.

"Sorry, I'll leave," Emma said, turning hastily towards the door.

"Shit, no that came out wrong," Ruby said, reaching out and catching Emma's arm.

The blonde flinched and pulled away. Ruby's eyes widened at the reaction but she drew back her outstretched hand.

"Sorry," Ruby said. "I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean you weren't welcome here. I just … usually see you out the back."

"Yeah, well, I came to ask if you had any work going," Emma replied. "I'm trying to get my life back together."

Ruby smiled widely at her. "Well as luck would have it, one of our kitchen boys quit this week. Granny," she said, turning the the older woman who had clearly been listening to the conversation, "have you replaced Jamie yet?"

"I have interviews tomorrow," Granny replied quickly. "There are several candidates."

"Can -," Ruby turned back to the blonde, realising she still didn't know her name.

"Emma," she admitted at last.

Ruby grinned. "Can Emma interview too?"

Granny scowled. She had never been able to deny her only granddaughter anything, not after her mother had passed away when Ruby was just a child.

"Ok," Granny replied. "But I'm not doing her any favours. She'll have to win the job fair and square."

"Of course," Emma said. "Thank you."

Granny pursed her lips, looked the woman up and down, and retreated into the back store room. Ruby turned back to Emma and smiled.

"I'm sure you'll be great. Granny seems harsh but she's a softie really."

"Thanks," Emma said, smiling weakly. She wasn't feeling confident. She hadn't had a job interview since she had been released from prison and then it was with companies who employed recent parolees. Now, however, she'd have to disclose her criminal record and then convince the older woman that she was going to be a good worker.

"Have you got something to wear?" Ruby asked.

"Just this," Emma said, gesturing to the shirt and jeans she was sporting.

Ruby grimaced, her eyes drifting to the faint stain on the right shirt sleeve, the missing button and the ripped jeans.

"Come half an hour early and I'll get you something to change into," Ruby said. "Meet me out the back at eight thirty?"

"Thanks," Emma said.

"You're welcome," Ruby smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, Emma."

The blonde grinned back and turned to leave the diner, huddling over as soon as the cold wind hit her and hurrying down the street and towards the park.

"No, mother, I told you last week that Locksley is representing Carter and Sons," Regina sighed, trapping the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she placed a bowl of fruit in front of Henry.

"And you still haven't reached an agreement?" came the snapped reply Regina was so used to hearing.

"No," Regina replied. "You know he's never going to cut a deal with me."

The scathing look the older Mills was inevitably wearing was almost audible through the cell phone.

"You have no one to blame but yourself," Cora Mills said. "If you'd only consented to the marriage our law offices would be working together, not fighting opposing sides of cases."

"I'm not going to marry someone to make our work easier," Regina sighed. She wasn't going to have this argument. Not again.

"Just make sure we settle this case out of court," Cora said. "This company is worth millions."

"Yes, mother," Regina said just as Henry waved his arms in her direction. "I'm sorry, I have to go. Henry's just finished his dinner."

She hung up and tossed her cell onto the counter. It skidded across the shining marble and clattered into the sink. She swore quietly and picked it up, grateful that the dishwater had all disappeared, and wiped a few lingering bubbles from the case.

"Mama?" Henry asked, knowing something was wrong but not sure what.

"Sorry, Henry," Regina said, crossing the kitchen to her son and hoisting out of his chair and placing him on the floor. "Are you sure you don't want any more?"

"No, thank you," he said, turning and padding through to the adjoining living room.

Regina scooped up the bowl and popped one of the remaining grapes into her mouth. She quickly washed up and then followed the young boy who she found sat on his bean bag, thumb in mouth and book in hand. Marlo was tucked under one arm.

"Can you read us this please?" Henry said, holding out a book. Unsurprisingly, it was about a monkey.

"Of course," Regina nodded, taking the book and settling herself on her own bean bag beside her son.

If any of her clients could see Regina at home, they would barely recognise her. The expensive designer suits and the severe eye make up were gone as soon as she stepped over the threshold to her penthouse loft. In their place that evening she wore soft tracksuit bottoms, a long sleeved t-shirt, and thick, fluffy socks. Her face was bare of make up and her jewellery discarded hours earlier. Henry had tugged on her earrings one too many times and she'd quickly learnt to remove them as soon as they got home. That particular evening, the two Mills had changed into their ski-wear before going outside to the communal garden and constructing a snow monkey. Well, that's what Henry claimed it was anyway. Once they were both frozen to the bone, they'd returned to the house where Henry had begrudgingly had his bath, half-soaking Regina in the process.

Now his belly was contentedly full of lasagne and fruit, and sleep was creeping up fast. As Regina began to read, Henry leaned into his mother until at last he crawled into her lap, curling up and looking at the pictures as she read the accompanying words. Before she reached the end, his eyes were already closing.

"Bed time, little man?" Regina asked as she finished the book and looked down to see her son's eyes opening blearily.

Unusually, Henry nodded his agreement and allowed his mother to move him off her lap so she could stand. Once upright, she lifted Henry into her arms. His hair was almost dry from his earlier bath and he smelled sweet. She loved that smell. Regina carried him carefully though the loft and into his dark bedroom. Flicking on the bedside lamp, Regina laid her sleeping son in his bed and drew the covers up to his chin.

"Goodnight my little prince," Regina murmured, pressing her lips to the crown of his head.

She backed out of the room and closed the door. Running her hand through her hair, she sighed before heading to the kitchen. If she was going to work out a deal with Robin Locksley, she was going to need some wine.

"Have you ever worked in a kitchen before?" Granny asked, leaning on the edge of the counter.

"Yes," Emma nodded. "I worked at a few restaurants during high school."

"References?"

Emma shook her head. She highly doubted any of the places she had worked at for a few months at most would remember her from over five years ago. She wasn't particularly memorable. Unless she was doing something wrong. Then people tended not to forget Emma Swan.

"Last job?"

"I was working for a company in Tallahassee as an administrator, but I left a few months ago."

"And I don't suppose you have references from them?"

"No," Emma said. She didn't think asking her former employer for a reference was going to help in any way with getting this job.

Granny pursed her lips and tapped her pen against the counter. She regarded the woman before her, noting as she did so that the shirt and pencil skirt she was wearing looked suspiciously like items Ruby owned. Emma was sitting on a bar stool, hands coiled in her lap but the fidgeting fingers still evident. Her hair had been scraped back into a loose braid and her face was taut with nerves. Granny could tell that this interview and possible job meant a great deal to Emma. She just didn't know if she was willing to take on the inevitable drama she could sense surrounding the young woman.

"And you say you don't have a CV or social security number?" Granny frowned.

"I don't have a computer," Emma said. "But I could write down my school history and the job stuff if you give me a pad and pen?"

"And the social security number?" Granny asked.

"I … forgot it," Emma lied.

"Are you legal?" Granny said, her eyes narrowed. She knew Emma wasn't telling her the truth and she sure as hell didn't want immigration sniffing around. That had happened before and it had been a nightmare.

"Yes," Emma nodded. "I was born in Maine."

"But worked in Tallahassee and now you're in New York?"

"I haven't found a place a like yet," Emma shrugged. "But I'm planning on staying here for a while."

"Criminal record?"

Emma's heart skipped a beat. "No."

"Anything else you think I might need to know?"

"I'm a hard worker, a fast learner, and I don't complain," Emma said. "I appreciate I'm not the typical bus-boy but I really, really need this job if I want to get my life back together. And that's what I'm trying to do. I want a better life and the only way to do that is through hard, honest work."

Granny listened before glancing down at her notepad again. The other applicants had been dismal. Spotty teenagers with a lazy attitude and no experience. She hated to admit it but the woman sat before her, with scruffy shoes and dirt under her fingernails was her best option.

"I can't have you on the books," Granny said. "Not if you don't have a social security number."

"I know," Emma nodded. "That's fine."

"Five dollars an hour. It's under minimum wage but since you don't have a social security and you're not on the books I can pay you as I see fit. You'll be paid cash in hand at the end of every shift."

The fact that she'd be working for so little didn't matter and Emma's face split into a wide grin. "Great! Perfect. Thank you so much for this Mrs Lucas."

"Don't make me regret it."

"I won't," Emma said, still smiling ear to ear as the older woman walked back towards her office and left Emma alone to celebrate.

"Congratulations!" Ruby said from behind her. "I knew she'd like you."

"I wouldn't go that far," Emma said as she turned towards the brunette. "But I guess she's giving me a chance and that's all I can ask for."

"You'll be great," Ruby assured her. "After all, cleaning tables and washing pots isn't exactly rocket science."

"Emma," Granny said, sticking her head out from her office. "You'll need to be here at six tomorrow morning. Clean yourself up and don't be late."

"Yes, Mrs Lucas," Emma nodded. "I won't let you down."

Granny's dubious face disappeared and as soon as it did, Emma turned to Ruby. "Can I borrow an alarm clock?"