Slowly, she blinked awake.

The first thing she saw was her hand on top of her mobile.

The second thing she felt was terrible pain shooting through her body.

It was not quite light, but it wasn't all that dark either. Groaning, she managed to roll onto her back. She looked up at the ceiling of the car. She was dizzy. Things seemed to be spinning. Eventually, they came into focus. But she was nauseated, incredibly so. Slowly, she inched back. Inch by inch. Pain. It felt like needles were poking into her skin, all over her body. She felt like she was about to cry, but she didn't. She couldn't. Her throat hurt, too. She closed her eyes. She let out a quiet scream when she managed to push herself up into a seated position, her legs now over the centre console and onto the driver's seat. Her back was against the passenger side door. She felt something under her. Something hard, shoving into her thigh. Wiggling the little bit she could, she pulled it out. Her mobile. She turned on the screen. Her eyes blinked, the screen's brightness almost too bright. But then she saw the battery. 34%. She set her mobile down on her lap, and managed to enter her pin. She stared down at it. The time. 4:22 AM. Shakily, she opened her contacts. Help. She needed help. Desperately. She couldn't drive. She wasn't even sure if the car had enough gasoline to get back to town even if she could. She paused. No. She couldn't call 911.

Aria and Cindy had found out about Storybrooke. No one was safe. She stared down at her mobile. The battery. 33%. She paused. There's only a few people who can leave town, Lynn. Us, Chloe and Sherry…and anyone who doesn't have a heart inside their body. A heart…heart… She closed her eyes for a few seconds. She took in the sound of her own heart beat. Then her eyes snapped open. There was one person in town who always did what her mother said. Would that work with her too? Lynn stared down at her mobile again. Battery. 32%. She opened a contact. Call In Emergency. The phone number was not 911. It was that of the Storybrooke Sheriff. Graham. Would he be able to come get her? She hoped so. She hit dial. She turned her mobile onto speaker phone. No. He was one of the few people who could not be in on it. He would never leave her to die. Her mother had always told her that she could rely on the huntsman. It had happened a few times when she had been younger, no older than five or six. The huntsman. Graham. Shaking, she waited for the line to click on. Suddenly, it did.

"Hello?" A groggy voice said through the phone, letting out a yawn. "Who's this?"

Lynn shook badly, coughing to try and clear her throat the best she could.

"Graham, it's Lynn…" She rasped into the phone. "I'm twenty miles outside of Storybrooke, off the shoulder of I-95. I need you to come get me."

There was shuffling on the other end of the line, and heavy footsteps, followed by what sounded like the slamming open and shut of a car door.

"I'm on my way, what's going?"

"I snuck out last night," She started to cry. "To see friends, but they stabbed me. I don't want to die, Graham, I -"

"You're not going to die," He said, clicking on the sirens. "I'll be there as soon as possible. What colour is the car?"

"Bright red," She trembled. "It's Ruby's. It shouldn't be hard to see, you -"

"Got it," Graham let out a heavy sigh. "You're going to be alright, Lynn. Just hang in there."

Time ticked. She listened to him talk on the other end of the line but couldn't make herself keep talking anymore. If she could have, she would have started crying when she heard him tell her he was past the town line. He had been able to. She listened to him going on about how he had only had to leave town one other time. When that boy and his father had been in the town. He had heard that the boy's father was a drug addict, that he was dangerous, that the boy would be safer in Storybrooke. He had tried to chase him down, but gave up when he lost sight of the boy ten miles past the town line. He never found out what happened to him. He had disappeared into the woods. Graham paused every so often, asking if she were still okay. She managed to mumble into the phone, but she knew full well her voice was weak. The last thing she wanted was to lose her voice, especially before she was found. He went on. The boy, he thought, had been learning to hunt with his father and there had been an accident. Their car had broken down just outside the town. That was when he had come, stepped out of town for the first time, to help them get their truck towed into town.

He awkwardly chuckled. He supposed he had left the town twice, then. It was all in the line of duty, though. Had been the same people. They just needed help, so he had come along to help them out. Everyone else had been too afraid to leave town. He went on about how odd it was that people hated the idea of leaving town. Only a couple of people were unafraid. That was fine, though, he told her. Plenty of people lived in superstition. That was just part of life. Just like believing in fairy tales. This time, Lynn did start to cry. Tears, albeit not many, started to trickle down her face. Fairy tales. Her friends. Why had they done this to her? She tried not to think too hard about it. She knew the answer. She hated it. But they had done it just because they didn't want to be friends with her anymore. Because they had found out who she was. She was the daughter of the queen they all called the evil queen. But she wasn't. Lynn felt sick. She briefly wished she had called her mother. That quickly dissipated. Regina wouldn't have known what to do. She would have panicked just as much as she was. Lynn winced, letting out a short cry of pain when she did so. Everything hurt. It all hurt so damn bad. It was like living a nightmare. She hoped it was a nightmare.

She knew better. She closed her eyes, every part of her shaking. Even Graham's voice was becoming less and less of a comfort. All she could hear, for what she could have sworn was hours, was the painful ringing left behind when everything was silent. It was horrible. Everything was horrible, terrifying. She flinched, startled, winced again when she heard something else among the steady increase of traffic on the nearby interstate. Sirens. The faint screeches of sirens. It was getting more and more light out. She felt sick. She was starting to feel dizzy again. The feeling of needles piercing all over her body was getting worse, and worse. She couldn't quite move her legs, either. The screeches of sirens grew closer. And closer. And closer. There was a sound of an engine coming closer and closer, too. The sound of the screeching sirens became steady, the same, almost causing a more intense ringing in her ears than the ones left in the equally painful silence. A bright light was shined in her face. Her eyes weakly watered. The light was pulled back. The driver's side door was pulled open. The light was dropped. Then, arms wrapped around hers, and picked her up, one of the sweeping under her legs. She nearly hit her head on the top of the car.

"How are you doing, Lynn?" Graham could not hide the panic in his voice. "Holy…"

He trailed off, breaking into a run towards the police car. He held onto her, pressing her as gently as he could against his chest while he pulled open the passenger side door. He set her down, and started to strap her in.

"I thought…" Lynn weakly mumbled. "Not le…"

"This isn't a normal situation," Graham checked to make sure she was secure and then closed the door, running back around the vehicle, and getting in himself. "This is a true emergency," He strapped himself in, and turned up the sirens. "You'll be in the Storybrooke Hospital soon, Lynn. Just hang on for me, okay?"

Lynn stared at him, barely able to turn her head.

"I told you you're not going to die, Lynn," Graham spoke gently, glancing at her as he got back onto the road back into town. "Do you believe me?"

The fifteen year old nodded weakly, starting to cry again.

She almost couldn't believe it, and, despite the pain, she felt her body relax a little.

He had made it. She was going to live.

"Graham! Where -"

Regina stopped short when she entered the Storybrooke Police Station with Henry still running faster than he ever had behind her. He was panting every few seconds, but stayed desperate to be with his mother. He took a look at the time. 5:02 AM. Catching his breath, the eight year old took a look around, just as surprised as his mother to find that the sheriff was not there like he normally was. Instead, another person walked into the room, looking almost as hassled. Regina turned around, half expecting it to be Graham but it was not. Instead, she found herself face to face with Ruby, who looked half asleep. Makeup smudged, hair a mess, the young waitress looked terrible. She didn't seem to care. She also did not seem fazed by how equally unkempt the mayor looked, with Henry, surprisingly, looking the most put together of all of them. It was startling, to say the least. Henry peeked out from behind his mother to look at Ruby. She and Regina stared at each other for a minute before they both started to speak. To her shock, Regina fell silent and Ruby, albeit hesitantly, spoke:

"Is Graham here? I need to file a police report."

Regina eyed her strangely. "What for?"

"My car," Ruby said, holding up her keys. "I went to get some things out of it this morning before work, and it just wasn't there."

"Who stole your car?" Henry asked, his eyes wide. "Why didn't they just ask you?"

"If you're using a car for a normal reason, you would ask," Ruby told him. "But, no, whatever someone is using a car for when they steal it, it's definitely not the kind of thing you turn around and ask someone 'hey, so I need to use your car, is that okay?' That's just not how things work."

"Lesson aside, what do you mean your car was stolen?" Regina incredulously pressed. "Not to blame you, dear, but you have to admit, the idea of -"

"What are you doing here?" Ruby cut in, rubbing at her eyes. "I know Graham isn't here, but it's probably not worth wasting time talking about my car. I can try and help, I guess. Something going wrong with stuff at the mayor's office, or -"

"My daughter is missing."

Ruby's jaw dropped in abject horror.

"No…" She whispered. "What?"

"Netta isn't at home," Henry tried to explain. "I couldn't sleep so I went to try and get her to play and she wasn't there, Ruby, Netta is just -"

Regina gently squeezed his shoulder, and Henry trailed off, anxiously wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Ruby," Regina started slowly. "Do you by any chance have even a hint of an idea where Graham is?"

She shook her head. "I mean, no. I suppose he could be at his apartment, but that's not likely. I came in because I woke up early and saw him walking to work…like an hour and a half ago. But that was the last time I saw him."

Both women went silent.

Then, there were footsteps.

They both tensed, and Henry held tighter onto his mother.

"I see the police station is quite the popular spot today."

Ruby turned around, glancing between the man walking in and Regina. To her surprise, Regina looked more angry than she had been in a long time when she and Gold met each other's gazes. On the other hand, he seemed to be just amused. Her fingers curled. Of all the people who were entirely unhelpful and absolutely stymying, it was him. He was also a generally unpleasant person to be around. Ruby took a step back herself when Gold walked in, the steady click of his shoes and his cane a bit menacing. No, it was more than a bit. She scowled. He was intimidating, and he had to be doing so on purpose. There was no other reason for it. She crossed her arms, and took a few steps closer to Regina, who did not object. Henry let go of his mother, and stood in between her and Ruby. Gold, completely unbothered and almost acting as if he were alone, sauntered into the room. He took a look around, brushed his hands over some files. He then clicked his tongue and tapped his cane against the floor a few times. It took just about all Ruby had in her not to take both hands and flip him off at the same time. Remembering how serious things were, however, restrained her. It did more than that. It terrified her.

"What good is funding police if none of them come in early with the sheriff?" Gold remarked, offering Regina a half smirk. "You and the Council might want to reconsider what you invest in."

"If you're referring to yourself, then, yes, we often do reconsider that," Regina's eyes narrowed with every word she spoke. "And I will be far from annoyed if they cut you back down to the bone and give you exactly what you're owed and that's it."

"Bold words," Gold chuckled. "I have to say, I'm rather impressed. Though you seem to be in a bold mood today, Madame Mayor. I never expected you would leave the house without putting real clothes on."

"I happen to have more important things going on right now, so unless you know where my sheriff is, I'm going to have to ask you to get out of my way."

Gold looked to Ruby. "What did you do to upset her?"

"I didn't do anything," Ruby snapped. "And if you know something, you better -"

"I merely came here to inquire about increasing security at my estate," Gold flippantly said. "There is no reason for any hostility."

"There is," Regina hissed. "My daughter is missing."

All amusement dropped from Gold's face. There was something about the way she looked at him that left him unusually afraid. Fury that he had not seen from her in a very long time lurked behind her eyes, and it, despite his attempts to hide it, shone through. Ruby noticed, too, dropping her arms in disbelief. Henry, who had wandered around a little, tried to take in everything around him. It was a lot. It was confusing. He scrunched up his face. Where was Graham? He never went too far unless he had to address something just outside of town. That was why he was sheriff. He wasn't afraid of anything. Henry sighed, and looked back between his mother, Ruby, and Gold. He had never seen his mother this upset or angry before. Things suddenly sunk in. Netta was gone. They had no idea where the one person who could probably find her was. The person they needed to find her was not there. What could they do? Was there anything they could do? He shrunk back a little when his eyes met Gold's. He all but ran over to his mother, and, like he had when he was much younger, tried to hide behind her. Then, he saw Ruby drop her car keys on Graham's desk, horror dawning on her face.

"I…" Her voice started shaking when Regina turned to her. "My car. I…I got it from my granny ages ago. The thing is kinda janky, but it has a real key."

She pushed her keychain towards Regina, who, after a brief moment of hesitation, picked it up.

"Which one of these is for your car?"

"It's the one with the big, black knob like thing," Ruby told her. "It has the symbol for the manufac - Toyota. It's got that, and then the normal key, like you would have for your house. It's right next to the blue one I use for the diner."

Regina brushed her fingers against it with her free hand, before suddenly setting it down.

"Do you have another set of these?"

Ruby paused, paleing by the second.

"I do," She whispered. "But I keep them in the glove compartment in case I need them, or if…"

She trailed off, looking back at her keys on the sheriff's desk.

"My key," She started, steadying her voice the best she could. "It's not an electronic one to get in, or out, or start it, but a real key. And to get in the car, there's a lock - on the side door, just slip the key in there. You have to do that before you can open the door and put the key in the ignition."

"Which means…" Regina grabbed Henry's hand, shaking. "Ruby, you don't -"

"I keep a spare key in there in case I need it, and…if she found it…" Ruby swallowed hard, starting to cry. "Oh, God, if there's anyone in this town that key a car and find a way to drive off with it, it's Lynn."

"Netta took your car?" Henry gaped at her. "She doesn't have her licence yet!"

"But she does know how to…" Regina swore under her breath. "She could be anywhere."

Ruby nodded. "If she was the one who took it, yeah. But where would she go?"

"That's a good question," Regina paused. "Ruby -"

"I think I have Graham's mobile number, let me try and call him," Ruby pulled her own mobile out of her pocket and frantically started dialling. "If I can remember it correctly, hang on…"

Regina wasn't sure if she heard anything else they were saying.

She let Henry hang onto her, just about ready to pick him up and hold onto him herself for dear life.

"He's not answering."

Ruby and Regina shared a worried look for a few seconds, and then Regina dropped her purse onto Graham's desk, looking for her mobile.

"Where the hell is my sheriff when I actually need him?"

If she weren't so scared and upset, Regina knew full well her voice would sound much more angry.

Replies To Reviews:

barrattajennifer: justified as Leah, Stefan, and Aria were for being upset by what Regina had done with the sleeping curse and, then, the curse ripping them all from their homes, their anger and warped idea of justice created something deeply sinister in their daughter. Regina is not someone they should have wanted to get on the bad side of, and their complicity in Aria's actions will absolutely hurt them.

Sammii16: Aria is proof of Regina's firm belief that evil is made, not born. and, while Regina herself is far from perfect, and has a great deal of things she needs to atone for, Regina let her daughter try and make up her own mind, Leah and Stefan took the opposite approach.

jasouatfan: Regina does everything for her daughter, and, for all their faults, she and Lynn and Henry care a great deal for each other.

The White Shell Mermaid: yep, and it created a terrible result for Lynn the second Aria and Cindy decided they just did not want to be friends with Lynn anymore.