True North


Regina was called to the pharmacy. Henry was caught shoplifting. When she arrived, the dwarf looked her right in the eye. "I'm sorry, Madame Mayor, your son was shoplifting."

Regina looked at Henry. "Were you?" She asked him, he shook his head. The mayor looked back at the pharmacist.

"Well, look for yourself." Regina looked in Henry's bag. It was nothing that remotely interested Henry to begin with.

"My son doesn't eat candy, and he knows better than to steal," she said, then looked at the twins she knew very well. "It was obviously those two. We're leaving."

As they walked out, Emma walked in, as she had been called to this. "Henry! What happened?"

"Dr. Swan, might I remind you that genetics mean nothing, and that you are not his mother, and everything is taken care of."

"I'm here because I'm the sheriff," Emma replied.

"Oh, that's right…" Regina said sheepishly. "Go on, do your job." Emma looked at her son and his mother and shook her head, walking around them to the proprietor. "Take care of those miscreants," was Regina's parting shot as she and Henry walked out of the shop.

Emma sighed. "Did you call their parents?"

"I did, but the number they gave me was disconnected," the dwarf stated. Emma looked at the two. Her superpower in full effect.

"Did you guys give Mr. Clark a fake number?" She asked, and they shook their heads. "Then why is it disconnected?"

"'Cause our parents couldn't pay the bill," the girl stated. Emma looked at the pilfered items; other than candy, there were some other necessities on the counter.

"You guys were just trying to help out, huh?" She asked, picking up some toothbrushes.

"Please, please don't arrest us, it will just make things worse for our parents," the girl tugged at Emma's heartstrings, but there was something about the plea that hit her the wrong way. She didn't say anything. She just turned and purchased the items for them.

Emma drove them in the cruiser to their little house in the outskirts. It was gray with a red door. "Is this it?" she asked, with the kids' assent, Emma moved to get out of the car. "Wait, don't, if our parents see you, they'll be so embarrassed."

And there it was. The lie. She closed the door to the car and turned to face them. "Did Henry tell you about my superpower?"

They shook their heads. "We just met him."

"I have the ability to tell when anyone is lying," she stated. Their eyes went wide, but the girl… she seemed to take this as a challenge. "Tell me the truth, money problems aside, is everything okay at home?"

"Yeah, we're great," the girl spoke; the boy's eyes grew shifty. Emma knew the sister was incredibly good at lying, and he was not. Which is why he said nothing. And that meant their lies got told by just one person.

Emma looked at both of them and nodded. "Alright." They got out of the cruiser, and she started the engine and drove around the corner. Then she watched them scurry around to the back. She pulled up to the most abandoned-looking house in the area. The house had a few vulnerable spots, so she knew runaways would have an easy time squatting there. She walked to the house as quietly as she could; she heard the cellar door creak and tip-toed toward the sound.

The twins came out from the floorboards. "Why did you guys lie to me?" Emma stated. "Where are your parents?"

"We don't have any," the girl said, and Emma herded them back to the cruiser. "You're staying with me until I figure this out."

She grabbed a file on the kids from the station and headed home with the twins. She knew they could use a warm meal.


"Have you seen them at the school, Mom?" Emma asked.

"I've seen them around, but they are in a higher grade. Sixth, I think."

"It says here their mom was Dori Zimmer?" Emma stated. "Anyway, it says she died two years ago… do you have any idea who they really are?"

"I don't know," Snow stated. "Maybe Hansel and Gretel? Mother died, Father abandoned them in the woods near Regina's castle."

"Hmm, why would Regina want to keep them alone?" Emma stated.

"That woman is evil, Emma…" Snow stated.

"No, Mom, she can't be," Emma protested. "She is the mother of my son. How could she love my kid and hate these two… mom… I can't think of her like that.

"So what are you going to do?" Snow asked.

"I have to find their dad… otherwise, they are going to separate them, and that is the last thing they need."

Emma walked out of the apartment and headed straight for the records office.


The trail led directly to Regina. She had pulled their vital records. "You don't have to worry about them, Dr. Swan. I have contacted the state; turns out these kids have been on their own, they need help."

"That's what I am trying to do; I need to find their father," Emma stated.

"Well, there isn't one," Regina said.

"That's impossible," Emma stated, her brows furrowing.

"Well, biologically, they have one," Regina stated, handing Emma the birth certificates. "It's just not traceable, so they have to go into the foster system."

"Storybrooke has a foster system?" Emma inquired.

"No, that's why I called the state. Now, Maine's group homes are full, but there are two in Boston. One for girls and one for boys."

"You're going to separate them?"

"I don't like it either," Regina stated. "You have to have them in Boston by tonight."

"Me?" Emma said.

"You wanted to be the sheriff," Regina stated matter-of-factly. "Do your job."

"I promised they wouldn't be separated."

"Then I suggest you stop making promises that you can't keep," Regina moved closer to Emma. "These children need a home; I'm just trying to find the right one for them."


Emma was back in the station, scouring the town for anyone who could fit Hansel and Gretel's father description.

She wasn't turning these kids over to the state.

Henry walked in. "Anything?"

"Not yet," Emma stated.

"At least we know he's here since no one can leave," Henry stated. Emma nodded and set to work. "Can you tell me about him?" He asked suddenly.

Emma looked up at him. "I don't know anything about him…"

"Not about their dad, about mine," Emma looked up at him as he sat on her desk beside her. "Please."

Emma took a deep breath. "I don't know a lot about him. I met him when he was trying to steal my car, but instead, we both just fell in love at first sight. We went too far on a first date, and the next thing you know, I'm back home, he's missing. Apparently in jail, and you were coming."

"Do you have anything of his?" Henry asked. "Something you can remember him by?"

Emma's eyes furrowed. It was something that she had held on to, not to remember Neil by, but also Henry. Since Henry wasn't her son, she wasn't about to give it to him. But the kids may have something of their dad, especially if their mother was as sentimental as they described. "I don't… but I think I know how I am going to find Nick and Ava's dad." She stood and headed home.


"I am an expert at finding people," Emma said to the kids when she got home. "As humans, we put value on the things that are passed down. I have a baby blanket that I like to keep. I have this necklace right here… this is to remind me of Henry and his father." She looked at the twins. "I want to find your father, is there anything of his that you may have been holding on to this whole time?"

"I think I may have something," Ava said. "If I give it to you, you'll make sure we stay together, right?"

"Right," Emma said, and the girl gave her an old compass with a cracked face. "A compass…"

"Our mom kept it; she said it was our dad's," the girl stated.

Emma looked at the artifact and back at the kids. "Thank you."

Emma set to work investigating the compass. She looked for engravings or initials. She looked in the Yellow Pages for anything that had the compass as a logo. She took it to Mr. Gold's shop because Rumple probably knew who it belonged to.

And the tip certainly did. She got Michael Tillman's name and headed straight for the mechanic's shop. He knew nothing of it, and Dori was a one-night stand. He denied them. She told him that she had come to town for Henry and stayed for Henry.

"Staying is a lot different than taking them in," he said.

"I don't have my kid because I have no choice," Emma stated. "You do. Those kids did not ask to be brought into this world; you brought them into this world, you and their mother. And they need you. And if you choose not to take them, you are going to have to answer for that for the rest of your life. Sooner or later, if they find you because, believe me, they will find you, you are going to have to answer to them."

"I'm really sorry I am… But I don't know anything about being a dad," he stated, giving her back the compass. "If it's a good home you are looking for, it's not with me." He said and walked away.

Emma sighed, tempted to just take the twins in herself, just so that they don't become separated. Besides the fact that she doesn't know what would happen to them at the crossing of the border. She doubted that legalities would magically conceal the damages. What would happen to them if they crossed the town border? Would they be hurt or disappear? Why would Regina want to make children disappear?

She was walking toward her apartment to get the kids when Regina walked up to her. "Dr. Swan? Shouldn't you be on the interstate?"

She looked at the Evil Queen in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you do your job," she answered.

"You know you don't have to check up on me; I know what I have to do," Emma stated.

"Really?" Regina stated. "Because those kids are supposed to be in Boston tonight."


Emma opened the door for the twins, handing them the compass. "I'm sorry. We have to go," she said to them.

The twins got into the car, and Emma walked dejectedly to the front seat. Henry broke free from his mother's grasp and ran toward his blonde mother. "No, they can't leave Storybrooke, something bad will happen."

"Something bad has already happened," Emma said, the sadness pouring out from her tone. She drove, leaving them behind, and as she got to the border of the town, the cruiser stalled. She laughed. She laughed and laughed and got out of the car. She called Michael Tillman.

When he pulled up, he stepped out of the tow truck. He came closer and saw the two faces looking back at him. "Those are them?"

"Those are them," Emma said. "I just wanted you to see them. Just once. I didn't think I could do it either. I gave Henry up to give him his best chance. When I saw that he didn't have the happiness I wished for him… I couldn't leave. I was just as scared, more probably. But once I saw him, I got to know him, I couldn't go back."

Michael Tillman got closer to the cruiser and turned to face Emma. "You're taking them to Boston?"

"I don't have to." Emma shook her head.

He looked at them, then back at her. "No, you don't," he said, and Emma released a sigh of relief, her tears finally falling. She didn't want to give away someone's child. It was a trigger for her. Giving Henry up was the worst thing she had ever done. And he was one of the lucky ones. These two were not going to be as lucky.

Emma sat in the cruiser later that evening, and Henry came back to see her. "I brought you something," he said.

"What's that?" Emma stated.

"Pumpkin pie," he said. She smiled and got out of the car.

She met him by the hood of the cruiser. "I was hoping you could tell me more about my dad. Like I know you only knew him for one day, but…"

"Well, he was kind of handsome and rugged, you know?" Emma said as she opened the box with the pie. "He had a little bit of mischief glinting in his eye. And he was very charming."

"Like grandpa," Henry said.

"Eww… Dad was not around for me to pin that on him," Emma said then shrugged. "But I guess… He'd have had to be charming."

"Emma, everything in this town is changing…" He said with a smile. "The curse is weakening."

"Here's hoping…" She said, and around the corner, there was the roar of a motorcycle. The two looked up and watched as the stranger dressed in black rode by. Emma's heart pounded as he stopped in front of them. She smiled when he approached with an air of nonchalance. Henry looked on curiously as Emma ran to her brother and hugged him tightly. "Augie!"

"Hi!" He said and looked at the boy next to her, then back at his sister. "Storybrooke, really?"

"Yeah," Emma laughed.

"Any place to get a room around here?" he said.

"How did he find this place?" Henry wondered out loud as his mother said.

"You're staying with Mom and me, no questions," Emma said and pulled his arm.

"Who's the kid?" He asked.

"This is Henry… Your Nephew," Emma stated.

"You gave him up so that he wouldn't end up here…" August said concerned.

"And it was because of him that I ended up here," Emma answered.

"He was the key," August said, feeling a bit guilty. Because it was because of him that Neil totally disappeared.

"My god Augie, there is so much to talk about. Your dad Marco, he is the man around here, did you know that?" Emma chattered, pulling him toward the loft. "Henry, come with us, I'll give you a lift home."

Henry followed, confused about August but excited that the outside world is finding the place, even more changes.