Hi! Thank you for all the reviews and support. Good to know people are liking this. This specific chapter flashes back to the S3 episode "Beauty and the Beasts". Not the most well-known episode, sure. But I wanted one of the more 'normal' episodes before we get into the heavy episodes and fan favourites. I'm just not sure it dwells well with the OUAT story, but when I noticed this, I had already wrote half the chapter, and didn't want to rewrite the whole thing. I hope this is good enough.

It is REALLY long though. Nearly 7,000 words. Hope you're ready for it. Enjoy!

Emma Summers didn't really have many friends in High School. She primarily just hung out with her older sister and her friends, and barely talked to anyone in her own grade. She felt like she had to help out, especially after Buffy ran away recently. The closest person she had to a friend, Jasmine Corine, had no idea about vampires, demons or vampire slayers so it was hard to stay close.

She joined in with 'Scooby Gang' activities a little too much, even with their mom telling Buffy not to let her join in on these things. But it's not like this was new to Emma. She's been joining in with Buffy's adventures for over a year and a half now. She still didn't want to guard Willow's werewolf boyfriend in the library. A little too much for her.

Emma, Buffy and Willow continued to walk into school one day, as Buffy started to complain about patrolling with her new partner Faith, especially one thing she said.

"I don't think that's true, that every guys in it only for the chase," Willow remarked.

"I know, it is an awful generalisation," Buffy said.

"Hey Buffy!" said Buffy's new boyfriend, Scott. Emma had seen much of him yet, but he was at least something new, as the last person she dated was a vampire who was 224 years older than her, who later turned evil and spent months trying to kill her. She ended up killing him instead. Her life was strange to say the least. "That's what I stopped for basically, hey."

"Okay, hey," Buffy responded back.

"That all?" Emma said.

"I guess that's all you need sometimes," Buffy said, happily.

"Howdy Debbie," said Willow's werewolf boyfriend Oz to who Emma assumed was one of Scott's friends.

"Hi, Oz, you not doing jazz band this year?" she asked.

"Oh no, can't take the pressure," Oz explained. "It's not the music that's hard, it's the marching."

"We have a marching jazz band?" Buffy said, confused.

"Yeah, maybe I want to get in on this," Emma joked.

"Well you know, jazz is improvisational, we'd be going off in all directions, banging into floats, it's scary." Oz explained.

"Okay, maybe I don't want to get in on it," said Emma.

"He's just being Oz," Willow commented.

"Pretty much full-time," Oz said.

"Those are pretty flowers," Buffy said to Debbie.

"Thanks, Pete brought them for me," Debbie explained.

"Yeah, well I'm sure Scott does those things to you as well, Buffy," said Pete.

"Well, we're not up to flowers," Scott said. "Are we up to flowers? Did I miss flowers?"

"No, we're pre-posy, definitely," Buffy answered. "Anyway, what time is it?" She looked at Scott's watch. "Oh, I have to see Mr. Platt today."

"Platt, the school counsellor," Debbie asked.

"I get to convince him that I'm Little Miss Stable enough to be in school," said Buffy.

"Platt creeps me out," Debbie commented. "I would totally quit going, but I'm flunking Senior Bio, and my teacher says I have success issues."

"Senior Bio, I kind of aced that final," Oz commented.

"How did you that?" Willow asked. "Oh, right, you showed up."

"Wow, I can't wait to be a senior, sounds great," Emma said, sarcastically.

"If you want my notes, they're yours," said Oz.

"Thanks, that'd be great," Debbie answered.

"I gotta go," Buffy said. "I'll see you." They kissed, as Emma looked away.

They later went to the library, to check how it all went. They spotted Giles talking to Xander.

"We have to check every possible exit avenue," Giles said, panicking.

"I'm telling you, it's a waste of time!" responded Xander. "I was here all night."

He turned round to see Emma, Willow and Oz standing behind him.

"It's good to see you, no need to panic," he said, unconvincingly.

"You looked pretty panicky there," Emma pointed out.

"Yeah, just a thought, poker, not your game," said Oz.

"What's the deal, Giles?" asked Willow.

"Well, keep in mind, most likely there is no deal," said Giles. "If there was a deal, then it may concern murder last night. A male student was-was found in the woods."

"Jeff Orkin."

"Jeff, he was…" Oz said. "I knew him."

"Now, I'm afraid he was terribly mauled," Giles explained. "Now as much as I hate to think it, it could be the handiwork of…"

"Me," Oz said.

"Wolf-you, not you-you," Willow pointed out.

"But it's not!" Xander butted in. "Not wolf-you, not you-you. The room was secured, the gate was locked, and the window unbreakable and…" Xander walked into the cage. "Open."

"Oh, god," Willow said.

"Seriously?" Emma said.

"Oh, not to freak," Xander tried to explain, "I… I rested my eyes now and then. That's all."

"How long exactly did you rest your eyes for?" asked Giles, with a bad tone of voice.

"A little now, a little then," Xander said, as Emma sighed. "But I never heard Oz leave and he was here in the morning when I… when I…"

"Woke up!" Giles finished his sentence loudly and angrily.

"You could put it that way if you want to, Mr. Technical," Xander said.

"How else could he put it?" said Emma, pointing out Xander's incompetence.

Oz walked over to Willow sadly, like he thought for a second he could've done it. Emma knew it wasn't even Oz's fault that he had at least.

"Oh, god," said Willow.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Emma had to sleep in her car that night, after looking and not finding anywhere to stay, she bought the town newspaper to see if that would help. So far, it wasn't.

While she was reading, she noticed Mary walking up to her car.

"Hey," said Mary. "You okay?"

"Oh, in the world of tight spots I've been in, crashing in my car doesn't even rank in the Top 10," Emma answered.

"You're sleeping here?!" Mary said.

"Until I find a place."

"You decided to stay," Mary continued. "For Henry."

"Yeah, I guess," Emma said, getting out of the car. "This town doesn't seem to have any vacancies. None, actually. Is that normal?"

"Must be the curse," Mary said. Sarcastically of course, but Emma thought that may still be the case.

"Why you out so late?" Emma curiously asked.

"Well I'm a teacher, not a nun," Mary said. "I had a date."

"From the looks of things, it went well," said Emma in a sarcastic voice.

"As well as they ever do," Mary said.

Mary was mostly right, this matched Emma's experience too. Her longest relationship was with Henry's father, which was still only a few months. She had quick flings with others, but it never went that far, especially since she distanced herself from her friends and family. "Tell me he at least paid."

Mary shook her head. "Well, I guess if true love was easy, we'd all have it." Despite living in a supernatural, magical environment, Emma can never say she saw any relationship which can be said to be 'true love'. She thought Willow & Tara were perfect, but that never ended too well. For Angel & Cordy and Buffy & Spike, they've never considered their relationships 'true love', and neither did Emma. Stable, happy, loving relationships existed, but the concept of 'true love', well that just doesn't exist.

"You know, if things get cramped, I do have a spare room," Mary suggested.

Emma thought for a second. Did she really want to start living with someone again? She would probably just betray her in a few years or something. "Thanks. I might think about it."

"Well, good night," Mary said. "Good luck with Henry."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Emma waited for Henry at the playground after school, like she said she would, he said it went good, as they went on a class trip to the hospital. A little strange, but okay.

"I've found your father," he said. "Prince Charming."

Emma never really liked her father. She felt like he always treated Buffy (and Dawn, but technically he never met her) much better because they were blood. It's like he never wanted to adopt her in the first place. Her birth father could be better, but he was from a different dimension, far from reach.

"Prince Charming?" Emma questioned. "Isn't that Cinderella?" Henry looked at her. "Come on, tell me about him."

"He's at the hospital, in a coma," Henry explained. He had a page open at a tall man with a beard, and wearing noble clothes. "You see this scar? He has one too."

"So? Lots of people have scars," Emma said.

"In the same place," Henry said. "Don't you see what this means?"

That his demon mother put a picture that looks slightly like a coma patient in her fake book to trick her son into believing the story?

"The curse is keeping them apart, with a coma," Henry said. "Now they're stuck without each other. We have to tell Miss Blanchard that we've found her Prince Charming."

"Okay, kid," Emma said. "Telling someone their… star-crossed lover is in a coma is probably not helpful. It would give them false hope. Wouldn't know where to be."

"But what if I'm right?" Henry asked. "We know who they are, now they have to know."

"And how do you intend to make that happen?"

"By reminding him," Henry said. "We have to get her to read their story to John Doe. Then maybe he'll remember who he is."

"Kid, how do you know that would work?" Emma said. "Even if it's true, it's just a book. Would it really wake him up?"

"I believe it," responded Henry.

Emma thought for a second and then said "Okay." It might be a good test of fate.

"Okay?" Henry said, surprised.

"Yeah, we'll do it, but we'll do it my way," Emma said. "Let me ask her."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"You want me to read to a coma patient?" Mary said, confused at her own loft when Emma got there.

"Henry thinks it will help him remember who he was," Emma said.

"And who does he think he was?" asked Mary.

"Prince Charming."

"And if I'm Snow White," Mary said, figuring it out. "He thinks me and him…"

"Even though Prince Charming is traditionally Cinderella's prince and not Snow White's, yes," Emma said. "Look, neither of us can talk him out of his beliefs. So we need to show him." Of course, Emma didn't want Henry to stop believing, but she did want to find out if this amounted to anything. "And then maybe, just maybe…"

"He'll see that fairy tales are just that," said Mary. "That there's no such thing as love at first sight or first kiss. He'll see reality." Buffy & Angel were kind of 'love at first sight', but judging how that relationship ended, Emma wouldn't consider that 'true love'.

"Something like that."

"Well, sadly this plan is rather genius," Mary admitted. "We can get to the truth without hurting him."

"I told him that we will all meet tomorrow for breakfast at Granny's," Emma explained. "And you will give a full report."

"Well," Mary said. "I guess I'll get ready for my date. I think I will have to do all the talking."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

When school had finished, the whole gang met at the library. Buffy was a little late to the meeting. She came in to see everyone sad and scared.

"I'm afraid to ask," said Buffy.

"Oz ate someone last night," said Cordelia, Xander's girlfriend, who none of the others really ever liked, although Emma never got why.

"He did not!" Willow insisted.

"Oz does not eat people," Xander said. "It's more werewolf play, you know, I bat you around a little bit like a cat toy. I have harmless cat fun. If Oz, has you know side effect, people get cut to ribbons, and maybe then he'll take a nibble and… I'm not helping, am I?"

"No," Giles said.

"Absolutely not," said Emma. "But you are right in saying it wasn't Oz, whatever he did, it wasn't consciously."

"He may have gotten out of his cage last night," Giles revealed.

"Or maybe there's another werewolf roaming in the woods," Oz suggested.

"Perhaps," Giles said. "Perhaps it's something else entirely."

"It's okay," Buffy said. "We'll work together and we'll figure this out."

"Yes," Giles said. "You patrol the woods. Uh, the others, check out the morgue."

"Right, we can see if it's a werewolf kill or not," Willow said, quickly, hoping that it was successful. "But what about Oz?"

"Um, well, I have some research materials at home I need to look at," Giles said. "Uh… We can ask Faith to watch over him."

"What, you're having a slayer watch me?" Oz questioned. "Oh, good we're not overreacting."

Oz walked off, but Willow went after him.

"Okay, you know that thing where you bail in the middle of an upsetting conversation?" he said. "I have to do that. It's kind of dramatic, I know, but sometimes, it's a necessary guy thing."

"And I want you to do the guy thing," Willow said. "But…" Willow pointed to the clock on the wall. It was 6:34pm, close to sundown. Oz then sadly walked to the cage. "Oz?"

"Get away from the cage," Oz said, earnestly.

"What?"

"It's gonna happen soon," he explained. "Get away from me." He was clearly very nervous.

Willow walked back over to the others to hear Cordy say, "Can we just go? Why are we just sitting round here?"

"Yes, yes, let's get on with it," said Giles. "I'll see you all later and you can give me a round-up."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Emma met the others at Granny's, while Emma went to change into the shirt Henry gave her.

"Thanks for the shirt," she said. "Hey, is this your mother's?"

"Where does she think you are anyway?" Emma asked, interested.

"Playing Whack-a-Mole," Henry said.

"And she bought that?"

"She wants to believe it, so she does," Henry said.

"Well, you're right, I once lived in a town where basically everyone did that every day," she joked.

"She's here," Henry said. Emma turned to notice Mary walking through the door.

"Well, just remember," Emma said. "We're just getting started. Nothing's set in stone yet."

Mary sat down, excitedly. "He woke up."

Emma looked. "Okay…"

"I knew it!" Henry excitedly said.

"I mean he didn't wake up, wake up," said Mary. "He grabbed my hand."

"He's remembering!" Henry continued to happily say.

"Well, this is an unexpected turn of events," Emma pointed out. She genuinely wasn't expecting anything, but this is information she's going to have to note.

"The doctor said I imagined it," Mary explained. "But I know it happened."

Well, no one ever wants to accept these things. It's always imagination, Emma thought.

"We have to go back," Henry said. "You have to read to him again."

"Let's go," Mary quickly said.

Mary and Henry quickly got up from their seats and marched off. Emma followed closely. "Yeah, this is something we need to investigate."

When Henry had ran on a bit, Mary said. "Let's just make it clear, I don't think he's Prince Charming or anything."

"Of course you don't," Emma said. "But still, we need to find why this happened."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

"You're right, he's waking up!" Henry said, looking at the hospital room. Emma saw Sheriff Graham standing outside of it.

"Henry, you should stay back," he said.

"What's going on?" Mary said. "Is it John Doe? Is he okay?" She looked concerned.

"He's missing," Graham said, and moved away to show some doctors, standing around the bed. Regina was also there for some reason.

She walked over to them. "What the hell are you doing here?" She walked to Henry and took a hold of his hand. "And you? I thought you were at the arcade. Now you're lying to me?!"

"What happened to John Doe?" said Mary. "Did someone take him?"

"We don't know yet," Graham explained. "His IVs were ripped out, but there's no sign for sure there was a struggle."

"What did you do?" Henry said to Regina angrily.

"You think I had something to do with this?!" Regina questioned.

"It is curious that the Mayor is here," Emma pointed out.

"I'm here because I'm his emergency contact," Regina said.

"You know him?" responded Mary.

"I found him, on the side of the road years ago with no ID," Regina explained. "I brought him here."

"Mayor Mills saved his life," said one of the doctors, walking up to them.

"Will he be okay?" Mary said, still really concerned. Emma was starting to think they were lovers in another life. Or at least something to each other.

"Okay?" said the doctor. "The man's been on feeding tubes for years, under constant supervision. He needs to get right back here, or quite honestly, 'okay' might be a pipe dream."

"That's what we're doing," Regina said. "No one's paying you for this Summer Investigations or whatever it's called."

"Swan Investigations," Emma corrected. "And I can do what I want, thank you."

"Well, I guess you deal with that then," Regina said. "And since I clearly can't keep you away from my son, I guess I'm just going to keep my son away from you." She looked at Emma again. "Enjoy my shirt, because that's all you're getting." She turned to Graham. "Sheriff, find John Doe. You heard Dr. Whale, time is precious." She left impolitely with Henry.

"Doctor, how long between your rounds did you last see him?" Graham asked the doctor, Whale.

"Twelve hours or so."

"Then that's what we need to account for," said Graham. He turned to Emma and Mary. "Let's check the security."

"We can come with you?" Mary questioned.

"She doesn't have to find out," Graham said.

Later, they got to the security and saw two guys standing there. Emma recognized one of them as Leroy, the person who was in the prison cell next to her when she first got to the town. They said, they had both saw nothing, but both Emma and Graham didn't believe him.

"You two were the only employees on the floor last night and you saw nothing?" Graham said.

"Not a thing," said the one who Emma could spot by his nametag was called Walter.

"Did anyone walk by?" Emma questioned.

"I didn't see nothing," said Leroy.

"Double-negative," Emma pointed out. "What did you see?"

"I just told you," Leroy said, clearly annoyed at Emma correcting his grammar.

Graham turned to Mary. "Miss Blanchard, was there anything you saw during your trip with your class?"

"I don't think so," Mary answered.

"We're looking at the wrong tape," Emma noticed. "This is the ward where Henry's class put decorations. If this was really the tape from last night, we'd see the banners the kids hung."

"You fell asleep again!" Leroy said to Walter.

"You selling me out?"

"I ain't getting fired for this!"

"At least I don't drink on the job!" Walter objected, the conversation was now getting very heated.

"Gentlemen, enough!" Graham said, trying to break up the argument. "Where's the real tape?"

Walter put the real tape on, and as they all watched, they saw John Doe walk out of the hospital alone, which Mary noticed, saying that he's probably okay.

"Four hours ago," Emma noticed, due to the clock. "Where does this door lead?"

"The woods," Leroy said.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Willow, Emma, Xander and Cordy arrived at the morgue. Willow went quickly in first, while the others waited and snuck in quietly.

Xander freaked out. "Oh, god." To be fair to him, it was a little creepy.

"Here hold this," Willow said, giving him a torch. Cordelia came over, which scared Xander even more.

"God!"

"We're doing crime here!" Xander defended. "You don't sneak up during crime." Emma sighed and facepalmed.

"Willow, how can you stand it?" Cordy asked.

"Yeah, Will, I mean this guy is pretty barf-worthy," Xander said. "You don't seem that flustered either, Emma."

"I am, I'm just not showing it," Emma responded. "It helps. Plus we should be focused on the mission."

"Um, can't we be elsewhere?" Xander asked, eagerly. "You know, is Oz cleared or what?"

"I'm not sure," Willow answered. "I mean there are a lot of incised wounds, but it could be from anything."

"Anything with big sharp teeth and vicious…" Cordy continued.

"Do you want to go back to the car and wait?" Xander said, still panicking.

"No, God, I'm just saying," Cordy said.

"Almost done, let me just get a few strains off the body," Willow revealed. "It could be from the attacker."

"Great, so we got everything we need?" Xander asked.

"Yep, that's it," Willow said, happily, but then she fell down.

"Okay," Xander said. "Uh, little too much excitement for the Willster there."

"Is she okay?" Cordy asked.

"She'll probably be fine if we get her home," Emma said.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Emma, Mary and Graham continued to search in the woods. Expectedly, they haven't found anything so far. Graham stopped on the ground.

"What is it?" Mary asked.

"The trail runs out here," Graham answered.

"You sure?" Emma asked. "I thought you said tracking was one of your skills."

"Just give me a second," Graham pleaded. "This is my world. I got it."

"Right, sorry."

"What does he mean, 'his world'" Mary said when Graham gone ahead a bit. "Isn't detective work and stuff your thing too?"

"Sure, when I'm up to it," Emma said. "But to be honest, my work has never been this simple."

"It's an interesting job," said Mary. "How'd you fall into it?"

"Well, I've always wanted to be a detective," Emma said. "And I found a much easier way to do it." She wasn't mentioning Angel Investigations of course, but she still technically wasn't lying.

"Well, what made you want to be?" asked Mary. "Your parents?" Emma looked at her. "Emma told you that you were… you were from a similar situation to his own. Did you ever find them?"

"I didn't find my birth parents," Emma said. "And honestly I just stopped caring. My adoptive parents weren't the greatest in the world, but at least they looked after me and didn't leave me on the side of a freeway."

The two then heard something, as they saw Henry running towards them.

"Did you find him yet?" Henry asked.

"No, not yet," Emma said. "You shouldn't be here."

"I can help," Henry claimed. "I know where he's going."

"Henry, I…" They continued walking.

"You're the one who woke up," Henry continued. "You're the last one he saw. He wants to find you!"

Henry could be right, but of course they had to look more into it, because he could just as easily be wrong.

"Henry, it's not about be," Mary honestly said. "I think he's lost and confused. He's been in a coma a long time."

"But he loves you!" Henry continued to claim. "You need to stop chasing him and let him find you!"

"Kid, whether you're right or you're wrong, you need to go home," Emma stated. "Where's your mom? She's gonna kill me. And then you. And then me again."

"She dropped me at the house, then went right out," Henry said.

Well, at least he wasn't the only one. Emma snuck out to fight vampires with Buffy all the time as a teen. "Well, we need to get you back before she notices you're gone."

"Guys!" Graham shouted over, as the other three ran.

Mary looked. "Is that…"

"Blood."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The next night after a weird school day, the gang filled Emma in on everything. Apparently Buffy saw that her therapist was dead, as he looked brutally killed. She wondered what could've happened, but not for very long.

"This creature is especially brutal," Giles said, "I believe the phrase coined by the coroner when describing Mr. Platt was 'pureed'. But he did confirm that Platt was killed shortly before Buffy found him."

"Which means he was killed during the day," pointed out Buffy's new slayer partner Faith.

"Yes!" Willow exclaimed, happily, but got met with a few looks. "Sorry, I got… I just been… It's horrible, horrible."

"It's okay, Will," Buffy reassured her. "We're all glad Oz is off the hook."

"Yes, it's finally a little bit of good news in this life," Emma confirmed.

"Shouldn't he be here by now?" Giles asked, a little confused while looking at the clock. "Sunset's at 5:30."

"Let's just continue with this," Emma said. "We'll see him when he comes back."

"Yes, of course," Giles said. "Our task now is to determine what sort of killer we're dealing with. Clearly, we're looking at a depraved, sadistic animal."

"Present," Oz said, coming in just in time. "Hey, I may be a cold-blooded jelly doughnut, but my timing is impeccable."

"But you aren't," Willow said, going over to hug him. "It's a kill-in-the-day monster, 100% for sure."

"Well done for getting off the hook," Emma said.

"I wish we had time to celebrate properly," Giles said. "However, we have two victims, Jeff Orkin, and now Platt. Maybe there's something they had in common."

"Missing internal organs?" Faith suggested.

"Besides that," Giles said.

"Debbie," Oz said. "Well, victim number one, Jeff. He was in jazz band with us. They used to horse around."

"They were screwing?" asked a confused Faith, as they all looked at her. Emma noticed that Faith was a little explicit when saying those things.

"I don't think so," Oz said, weirdly. "But he hid her music comp once."

"Wow," said Emma. "I was right in saying I never wanted to be part of this jazz club."

"Plus we know Debbie knew Platt," Buffy said. "I mean, she was seeing him and way vocal about not having love for the guy."

"Add this and stir," Oz said. "I just saw Debbie a minute ago sporting a nasty black eye."

"So pretend Debbie wanted Platt dead, maybe he fought back," Willow suggested.

"No," Buffy stated. "Platt was dead in an instant. He didn't even drop his cigarette. Now, what if boyfriend Pete's the one doling out the punishment?"

"We should find them both immediately," Giles said.

"Well, Debbie was in the quad a minute ago," Oz said.

"We'll split up," Giles said. "Faith, you and I team. Willow, Emma, stay with Buffy."

"And I'll… go and lock myself in a cage," Oz said.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Buffy, Emma and Willow found Debbie in the girl's locker room, looking like she was clearing up her black eye.

"It's tricky, covering a fresh shiner like that," Buffy said. "You know what works?"

"What?"

"Don't get hit," Buffy said, as she walked over to her. "What's going on, Debbie? I'll bet the farm you know."

"You're wrong," Debbie claimed. "I don't know anything."

"Normally I'd say you wanna play 'I Have a Secret' fine," Buffy said, directly to her. "But people are dying here."

Debbie looked at Emma and Willow, and then said "It's not his fault. I mean, he's not himself when he gets like this."

"You mean, Pete?"

"It's me," Debbie claimed. "I make him crazy, he just does what he does because he loves me too much."

"Are you sure?" Emma asked. "Because, even so, he killed people."

"Again, he didn't mean it," said Debbie, trying to defend him.

"Wait, weren't Mr. Platt and Jeff murdered by an animal?" Willow asked.

"Pete's not like other guys, is he, Debbie?" Buffy asked.

"I've got to go."

"You have to talk to us," Buffy said, trying to go over to her. "We can't help you until you do."

"I didn't ask for your help!" Debbie said, now starting to shout.

"Well, when are you going to?" Willow asked. "I mean, if Pete kills you, it'll be pretty much too late."

"Debbie, we're running out of time," Buffy said.

"You need to tell us where he is," said Emma.

"Okay," Debbie finally said.

"Well, where can we find him?" asked Buffy.

"I don't know."

"You're lying," said Buffy.

"Yeah, it seems so," Emma agreed.

"What if I am?" Debbie said. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Wrong question," said Willow.

"Yeah, definitely the wrong question," Emma confirmed, as Buffy grabbed her and turned her round.

"Look at yourself," Buffy said. "Why are you protecting him? Anybody who really loves you couldn't do this to you."

Buffy stepped away and Debbie turned round. "Would they take him some place?"

"Probably," Buffy said.

"I can never do that to him," Debbie said, starting to cry a little bit now, as Buffy sighed. Obviously, Pete had some control over her. "I'm his everything."

"Great," Buffy said, sarcastically. "So while you two live out your Grimm fairy tale, two people are dead." She paused. "Who's gonna be next?"

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The four continued to look round the woods. Mary was shocked, but Emma took it in stride, as seeing blood was once a daily occurrence to her.

"The trail dies at the water line," Graham pointed out.

Mary used her torch, as she started to freak out, as the others noticed John Doe lying in the water. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!"

Graham started talking on his walkie talkie. "I need an ambulance at the old toll bridge as soon as possible."

"Hang on, hang on," Emma said. The three picked him up out of the water.

"Slow down, slow down, I think we should slow down," Mary said, continuing to freak out. "No, no, no, no, no. I found you! It's gonna be okay."

"Help is coming," Graham said.

"Is he okay?" Henry asked, and the three of them remembered that a child was there. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"Kid," Emma said. "Just don't look."

"Come back to me," Mary said, trying to get his heart beating and giving him CPR. Strangely, that woke him up.

"You saved me," the man said.

"She did it, she did it," Henry said, happily. "She woke him up!"

"Yeah, kid, she did," Emma said.

"Thank you," the man said.

"Who are you?"

"I don't know," he answered. He had amnesia. Course he did.

"It's okay," Mary reassured him. "You're going to be okay."

Emma thought for a moment. It seems that there was somehow a connection between the two of them, it was a little weird that she cared so much about the guy who she just met. Considering everyone here has hazy memories, then this could be a part of it.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Debbie just kept repeating "He does love me" over and over again.

"This is useless," Buffy said after a while. "We have to go. I have to find Pete."

Emma followed Buffy out, while Willow tried to carry Debbie. "I think we broke her." She was still saying it.

"I think she was broken before this," Buffy stated, leaving. Emma and Willow followed after, and Debbie came along when she stopped freaking out as much.

They met up with Giles and Faith, as they all heard a big fight going on in the library.

"What was that?!" Giles exclaimed, as they all rushed to the library. "Get the dart gun!"

"Got it," Buffy said after getting it out. She was about to shoot it, but Debbie bumped into her and she accidentally hit Giles. "Sorry!"

"Oh, right, bloody priceless," Giles said as he fell.

Oz the werewolf jumped around the library trying to grab everything, as Buffy told Faith, Willow and Emma to go after him, while Buffy went to tackle Pete, who now had a hideous face and was as strong, if not stronger than Buffy herself.

Emma, Willow and Faith all went after the werewolf quickly, but it was a little fast. It jumped out, and wrestled Faith to the ground.

"Where's the gun? Where's the gun?!" Faith yelled as she tried to tackle the werewolf.

"Great, now she's lost the gun," Emma said.

Willow ran over to the wolf and pulled his tail shouting "Get off her!" And the wolf started running after Willow.

"Get the gun!" said Willow. "Get the gun, quickly!"

Faith finally shot him with the dart gun.

"Phew," said Willow.

"That was hectic," said Faith.

"Let's just get out of here," Emma said.

It took a while for Buffy to meet back up with the others. She said that it took a while to fight him off as he was attacking Debbie but she couldn't save her. Seemed like a hard battle. They all went home after a long day.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

The next day, the gang met up at school to talk about what happened. Emma had heard some dumb rumours as usual.

"It's all over school," said Willow. "What happened with Debbie and Pete. Except for the 'Pete was a monster' part."

"Yeah, a freshman told me that Pete had eight iced cafe mochas and then just lost it," Oz said.

"Someone I know said he hit his head, and that gave him killer instincts or something," Emma mentioned.

"They're both better than the estrogen theory," Buffy said. "I heard he took all of his mother's birth control pills."

"He didn't? Pete was a monster?" Cordy said, confused. "Where have I been?"

"In your special place, Cor," Xander said. "Which is why I adore you."

"Yup, you're the lucky one," commented Emma.

"So what's the true story, what happened?" Cordy asked.

"We got a hold of Pete's lab books and stuff and Mr. Science was doing a Jekyll/Hyde deal," Willow explained. "He thought Debbie was going to leave him so he mixed his potion to become super mas macho."

"Only problem was eventually he didn't need a potion to turn into a bad guy," Buffy said. "He did it just fine on his own."

"Some people are just like that," Emma said. "It can be horrible."

"So it was like a real killing?" Cordy asked. "He wasn't under the influence or anything?"

"Just himself," Buffy said.

"An evil, horrible self," Emma repeated.

Buffy looked the other way and the others noticed that Scott was sitting on a bench near there. "Uh, I'll see you guys later."

"Great, now I'm going to be stuck with serious thoughts all day," Cordy said, sarcastically, as she walked off and Xander followed her.

"Well, she's not the only one," Emma said. "I've got the reputation of someone who hangs out with her older sister and her friends all day. These things are all just stuck in my head."

"Is that really such a bad thing?" Willow asked.

"Sometimes we just have to deal with our problems," Oz said.

"And I guess solving them is always gonna be our thing," Emma said.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

After the ambulance arrived, the John Doe was swiftly taken away to hospital as Emma, Graham, Mary and Henry followed. Suddenly, a woman ran in, tears down her eyes, shouting "David!" as she ran into the hospital room.

"Who is that?" asked Mary.

"His wife," Regina said, entering.

"What?" Mary asked, nervously.

"His name is David Nolan," Regina explained. "And that's his wife, Kathryn. And the joy on her face? Well, it's put me in quite the forgiving mood." She didn't sound genuine in the slightest. She turned to Henry. "We'll talk about your insubordination later. Do you know what insubordination means?" Henry shook his head. "It means you're grounded."

"Has he never been grounded before or did you just now say a random different word for it?" Emma asked and Regina gave her a look.

The woman, Kathryn, stood out. Regina's story didn't make much sense. Has she not just invested her time into this? How come they've only found her now?

"Thank you," she said to Mary. "Thank you for finding my David."

"I don't understand," Mary said. "You didn't know that he was here in a coma?"

"A few years ago, David and I were not getting along," Kathryn explained. "It was my fault. I know that now. I was difficult and unsupportive. I told him if he didn't like things, he could leave." Sounds like something Buffy said to Emma just 5 years ago. "And he did. And I didn't stop him. It was the worst mistake I ever made."

"Well, good you realised your mistake," Emma said. "But after you regretted it, did you not go look for him or something?"

"I assumed he left town all this time," said Kathryn. "Now I know why I never heard from him. Now I get what I wanted to do forever. Say I'm sorry. Now we've got a second chance." Emma smiled, wondering if her family would ever forgive her. But she was not even sure that she did anything wrong.

"That's wonderful," Mary said, really smiling.

Dr. Whale walked out of the hospital room. "Well, it's something of a miracle."

"He's okay?" Mary asked just to confirm.

"Physically he's on the mend," said Whale. "His memory is another issue. It may take time, if at all."

"What brought him back?" Mary asked.

"That's the thing, there's no explanation," Whale explained. Yup, must be supernatural. Emma had heard this all before.

"Well, that's that then," said Emma. "Well at least there's no bad news."

"I think he was delirious," Whale said. "His first instinct was to go and find something, I guess."

Or maybe he was tricked out of bed somehow. There was definitely something going on in this town.

"Someone," Henry said, clearly meaning to correct him.

"Can I see him?" Kathryn asked.

"Yeah, of course." Whale opened the door for her.

"Henry, let's go," Regina said, as she walked out and Henry followed her.

"Wait, my backpack!" Henry said, clearly leaving it there on purpose. Henry started whispering to Mary. "Don't believe them. You're the one he was looking for."

"Henry…"

"He was going to the Troll Bridge," said Henry. "It's like the end of the story."

"Henry, he was going there because it was the last thing I read to him," said Mary.

"No, it's because you belong together."

As Regina and Henry left, Emma was about to follow, questioning Regina like she did with others before her.

"Madam Mayor?" she said.

"Wait by the car," she told Henry, but he definitely wasn't going to, knowing him. "Miss Summers, I left you off the hook there, don't press it."

"I'm sorry, but Mrs. Nolan, seems like her story could be a load of crap," Emma stated. "All this time there was a John Doe lying in a coma, nobody puts it in the news? Nobody goes looking? There's something not right about this."

"Well, what else would make sense to you?" Regina asked.

"A lot of things, actually."

"Do you think she's lying?"

"Never said that."

"Well, do you think I cast a spell on her?"

That was certainly a possibility. "I still think it's rather strange you've been his emergency contact all these years and you only found her now."

"Well, this town is bigger than you know," Regina said. "It's entirely possible to get lost here." Just like Sunnydale. But Emma doubted that this has an easy solution. "It's entirely possible for bad things to happen."

"Just when it's convenient, you manage to solve the mystery," Emma pointed out.

"Thanks to you," Regina said. Emma looked confused. "That tape you found was a stroke of genius. So we went back and looked at past tapes. Turns out Mr. Doe's been talking in his sleep. He's been calling out for a 'Kathryn'. After that it wasn't hard to put the pieces together."

Yeah, right. "I'd like to see these tapes."

"You don't believe me, Miss Summers?" asked Regina. "Ask Dr. Whale and the people you and the sheriff interviewed. It's all true. And here I thought you and Mary Margaret would be pleased. True love won out. So bask in the moment, dear, because if not for you two, they would have to live their lives completely alone."

"No one is ever truly alone," said Emma.

"You know what I meant, Miss Summers," Regina continued. "But I'm willing to forgive your incessant rudeness." Yeah, totally 100% true. "Because all of this has reminded me of something oh so very important."

"Yeah, and what's that?"

"How grateful I am to have Henry," she answered. "Because not having someone? Well, that's the worst curse imaginable."

When Regina left, Emma thought about what she said. It is something Emma knew all too well. Right now, she had no one. But before a few years ago, she was surrounded by so many people that she stopped caring, but she would be lying if she said she didn't miss Buffy or Dawn or Willow or even the Angel Investigations team. She even kind of missed Xander. Just a little bit.

So maybe she did need someone. Just try and get to know people. Which is why she stayed for Henry. But what did she have to do? The simplest thing to do would be to just take Mary's offer of the spare room. And Mary was basically her only friend here (and maybe her first friend in three years), so she went to her house that night.

"Emma," Mary said as she answered the door.

"Sorry to bother you so late," Emma said. "Is that spare room still available?"

Mary then welcomed her in happily. She was going to have a weird time here.