"Henry? You don't usually sit here unless something is bothering you. What's going on?"

The eight year old looked up to see one of the teachers looking down at him in worry. Again. It was always the same teacher that noticed, too. He said nothing, letting his unkempt bangs fall over his eyes. Mary Margaret waited a moment. He seemed to be the only one unbothered by the December frost. Then, had become unfortunately common, she sat down next to the boy of year two. The mayor's son. A woman who seemed to like her less and less everyday. But why? That was the thought she could not shake from running in rampant circles through her head. What had she done to Regina? She paused. When had she ever done anything particularly bad to Regina? The worst she could think of were when she bumped into her accidentally. Accidentally spilled iced coffee on her. But those were small things. It didn't make sense. There was nothing about it that made sense. Henry took a bit of a glance around. Almost as if he were afraid of them being overheard, he pulled his legs up to his chest, and stretched out his arms. He tried not to think too hard. Every day was getting more and more difficult to get through. At least, he found himself wishing more and more that he could go home or to the hospital, spend time either with his mother and/or his sister. Netta.

"I'm okay," He eventually said. "Just worried about Netta."

"Is she doing okay?" Mary Margaret tentatively pressed. "She's been in hospital for almost two months now, hasn't she?"

Henry nodded. "She is."

Mary Margaret hesitated. "Did something happen?"

"No," He said. "I just miss her. She's going to come home soon. I just want her to come home now. It's lonely without her. And she seems lonely too."

"Of course," Mary Margaret sighed. "I'm sure things will be just fine, Henry. They just need to make sure she's as well as possible when she comes home."

"It's bad," Henry said quietly. "Why she's in there, I mean. She was attacked!"

Mary Margaret's eyebrows rose in absolute shock.

I know things have been kept very quiet for her sake and the family's, but I assumed she had just been in a car accident.

"What do you mean attacked?"

Henry turned towards her, though he did not meet her eyes and instead kept his own relatively hidden behind his bangs.

"Netta had friends from school," He said, lowering his voice. He took another look around to make sure no one else was listening in. No one was. "But they were bad."

Mary Margaret took a look around herself but then sighed.

"What do you mean?" She spoke gently. "Bad can be subjective. If you're…if you're okay with telling me, what did they do to her?"

Henry glanced up at her, shaking.

"They got Netta to leave town. I think they knew coming into town would mean mom would be able to sense something was wrong with them."

Regina knows just about everything in this town. That's probably a fair assumption…

"Netta left town and went to see them. And they…they…"

He went quiet for a little, shaking badly. Mary Margaret gently held her hands on his shoulders to help calm him down.

"They stabbed her," Henry whimpered. "Netta's friends tried to kill her."

Mary Margaret let him go suddenly in disbelief. He did not say anything, did not move, and instead just wrapped his arms tightly around himself, resting his head on his knees. Mary Margaret leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Henry," Mary Margaret eventually got out. "That's terrible. I hope you're all going to be able to get justice for your sister, and that she'll fully recover."

Henry weakly nodded. "I don't get it," He whispered. "How can someone be so cruel?"

Neither of them had an answer.

"So," Mary Margaret stood up, and reached down to help him up. "Let's focus on the good things. Your sister is coming home in two weeks."

Henry stared up at her and eventually wrapped his hands around hers, letting the teacher pull him up off the ground.

"Yeah," He said, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "I saw Netta with mom yesterday. Netta can walk completely on her own again. But the doctor told Netta that she isn't going to be able to fully recover on her left leg."

What could someone have done to cause that much damage?

"How is she feeling about that?"

Henry scrunched up his face in thought. The two of them began to walk back towards the main playground instead of staying by the back doors.

"I don't know," Henry said, shivering a bit when the wind whipped through. "But it's an intense brace they say she has to wear when she walks. It goes halfway up her thigh down to just her calf!"

Mary Margaret smacked her hand to her mouth in disbelief. She quickly forced herself to recompose herself, but continued walking with Henry.

"She has to take it off to sleep and shower," Henry said, rewrapping his scarf. "But that's it. She has to wear it all the other time. It's really scary. I hugged her. I don't know what she's going to do, though. She's probably not going to be able to return to swim team because of how bad her left leg is…"

Mary Margaret sighed. "Henry, I don't know what to say," She said, a kind and almost maternal edge slipping naturally into her voice. "But, whatever you need at school, please know that you can always come to me."

The web searches were getting exhausting. They were arguably no longer web searches. She had left poking around on the clear, surface internet hours ago. It seemed like a daily routine. And every day only a little more came up.

The dark web was becoming her friend. It had always terrified her. Now she knew how to use it, that fear no longer existed. But she was driven. Losing sleep. What the hell were those crime scene photographs of? Were they real? Or had they been some elaborate, fucked up hoax? She wasn't sure what was worse. There had been a few more she had seen apart from the initial ones. Much to her relief, she had not thrown up again. Yet. A sinking feeling all through her gave her pause that would happen again. The victim. If it were not a hoax, which seemed less and less likely, then what happened to them? Had the victim survived? Had it been a tragic accident, or something far more sinister? Her hands wavered, her fingers shaking above the keyboard. She chewed at the inside of her cheek, and reached over to take a sip of her scotch. It was the only thing that had kept her sane enough to continue the research. The jobs, of late, had been easy. Easy in the sense that finding the people and collecting on them was not particularly difficult. It was just another tedious part of the day. This had become an obsession. She no longer cared. She had only taken on a few victim's advocacy projects. This was not one of them, and, technically, she knew she had no right to be trying to find this case. She did not care. She wanted to know. She needed to know.

"Huh?" Emma's eyes fell on a set of encrypted files. "That's…"

.2052

She ran a virus scan. Clear. She downloaded it. It took ages. Eventually, it loaded. She clicked. Opened it. Her brow furrowed in confusion. That confusion quickly dissipated. Her eyes widened, and she began to scan through the document.

Petition For Somerset County District Attorney's Office To Charge With Attempted Capital Murder Ms. Arianne Leah Watson (Minor - 15) Against Ms. Lynnetta Mary Anne Mills (Minor - 15).

Filed By Storybrooke Police Department On The 16th Of December, 2052 By Sheriff Graham Humbert.

On the 7th of October, 2052, Arianne Leah Watson (Minor - 15) and another unnamed party were in text communication with Lynnetta Mary Anne Mills (Minor - 15). All three parties had been in reasonably constant communication visa via text, phone calls, and in person events, primarily at the home of Arianne Leah Watson (Minor - 15), and the school all three parties attend in New Hampshire. On the 7th of October, 2052, Watson and the other as of now unidentified party (presumed to be a fellow schoolmate of Watson and Mills, Minors - 15) were texting around 22:49. Watson (Minor - 15) and the other unidentified party.

They instructed Mills (Minor - 15) to join them about fifteen minutes from the county line separating this county (Somerset) from Franklin County. Mills' (Minor - 15) Samsung pinged on a cell phone tower near this spot, almost exactly. Upon reaching this spot, it is unknown what happened up until the point where Mills (Minor - 15) was attacked.. The sequence of events is unclear, however, what is apparent is that Mills (Minor - 15) was gratuitously attacked by Watson (Minor - 15) and the other unidentified party with knives. Mills (Minor - 15) has been in hospital since she was recovered at the scene around 4:02AM and taken to Storybrooke General Hospital, the nearest hospital and the hospital of her town of residence.

Mills (Minor - 15) has only been interviewed once, but will be interviewed on the record by this police department once. She has been in hospital since the 8th of October, 2052. Further interviews will be conducted when Mills (Minor - 15) is discharged from hospital and allowed to return home.

These charges were filed by Storybrooke Police Department, 16. December. 2052.

Signatories:

Sheriff Graham R. Humbert. Deputy Jackson -

Names swam before her eyes, but they fell down to the one name that stood out among the others.

Custody Of Lynnetta Mary Anne Mills (Minor - 15) Has And Remains With Her Biological Mother Regina Eveline Mills.

Emma let out a sigh of relief. The victim must have been this Lynnetta. She had survived. She reached for her drink again. It was closure. Closure for you. Her mind whispered. Who knows if that's going to mean anything for them? She began to sip on her drink again. Her thoughts did not stay calm for long. Her instincts had been right. The Watsons had been lying when they said she was not going to be helping cover up a murder. But why? It did not make sense. Emma took another few sips of her drink, her mind beginning to spiral. Dr. and Mister Watson's daughter had tried to kill someone. Someone her own age, too. Someone who seemed to be their friend. Why would they try to kill her? Plenty of the kids in the system with me were violent. Even the smallest thing could set some of them off. It was not the same thing, her mind replied to itself. She closed her eyes, for just a few seconds. Was it possible The Watsons were abusing their daughter? Had that driven their daughter to do this? When she opened her eyes again, she started to glance through the photographs attached to the filing. She shoved her drink aside. The crime scene photographs she had seen before were there, but others were too. Incontrovertible evidence, and text receipts. Then there were photographs of the injuries on the victim.

A severe gash up and down the left leg, deepest around muscle. Gashes around the right calf and ankle. Both shoulders pierced, another gash about halfway down the torso, though mostly superficial. Left arm had similar injuries. Right arm was a bit worse, but just below the shoulder. A note was on attached to the photographs:

Mills (Minor - 15) was wearing thick denim jeans and a thick denim jacket. She was presumably in something of a defencive posture. The injuries to the left leg were the most severe, and were just an inch in depth from hitting an artery. Mills (Minor - 15) was found with makeshift bandages wrapped around primarily her legs and a bit on her shoulders made of other clothes. These clothes found in the car, and -

Emma clicked off the photographs. She scrolled back up to the main filling. Her hands were shaking again.

What the actual fuck is wrong with some people?

She took a few minutes to breathe, to calm down. Much to her relief, she did not throw up this time, so much as she felt she wanted to. Eventually, her eyes went back to the document. She scanned through the file again.

Once.

Twice.

Her eyes then fell on the name of the victim - no, Lynnetta's - mother.

Regina Eveline Mills.

She had no connexion to these people.

So, why did that name feel so familiar?

Replies To Reviews:

barrattajennifer: Cora, like Rumple, is dangerous because neither of them are as emotional or impulsive as Regina. and, yes, Leah and Stefan should not be so certain about what they tell Aria - or what they believe about Regina and Storybrooke.

jasouatfan: Regina is definitely the last person who should be underestimated, especially when she wants to ensure her kids are safe.

Sammii16: absolutely! i'm so glad you're enjoying it, and, yes, things ARE more and more tense.

The White Shell Mermaid: i thought it was awhile too, but i chose that length due to how badly Lynn's left leg was mangled, and accounted for physical therapy. i hope that makes things more clear.