Sam was surrounded by dense forest. He looked around confused, not because he didn't know where he was but because he was looking for someone. A sword rested in his hand. Suddenly, a high pitched howl engulfed his ears as if it were done right next to him. He ran through the trees in the direction of the sound and there was that wolf from when he touched Ruby.

"Relax." Sam said, getting its attention. It growled and it's sharp teeth became exposed.

Sam was about to speak again but he found himself back in his bedroom.

"Sam!" Emma voice called out, she was right in front of him. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed daydreaming. Something he did often.

"you gotta stop doing that, it's freaky. Did you even get any sleep last night?"

Sam didn't answer, he looked around once more confused. "Holy shit, it was all real. We're in Maine."

"Yeah, no shit. You kept insisting on it."

"Right…"

"You woke me up last night, y'know. What could you be possibly doing wandering around outside at two in the morning."

"Ruby was drunk."

"Ruby?"

"Girl arguing with Granny."

"Ah."

Sam got up and began putting on some fresh clothes. His gloves were on the side, freshly dried after cleaning. "I don't think Granny's right about her. Or at least, she doesn't sleep around."

Emma became curious at that. "Mhm?"

"She was pretty close last night, kind of needed to be to stop herself from doing something stupid. I felt her hymen. It's still in tact."

"First off, gross. Second of all, since when did you become so interested in hymens?"

Sam didn't actually know why he knew Ruby's hymen was intact so he made up a lie. "Google."

"You google weird shit."

"Whatever. Want breakfast?"

Suddenly, a knock came from the door. Emma opened it and Regina was there either a basket of apples.

Apples are a pretty shit welcome gift but not gonna refuse free apples. Sam thought.

"Did you both know the honey crisp tree is the most vigorous and hardy tree of all apple trees?" Emma looked confused. "It can survive temperatures as low as 40 below and keep growing. It can weather any storm. I have one that I've tended to since I was a little girl. And to this day, I have yet to taste anything more delicious than the fruit it offers."

Regina held out an apple.

This is really weird. What the fuck?

Emma slowly reached for the apple and took it, confusion still evident on her face. "Thanks."

"I'm sure you'll enjoy them on your drive home."

"Actually, Emma and I are gonna stay for a while."

Regina's fake smile dissipated and went back to her more natural scowl. "I'm not so sure that's such a good idea. Henry has enough issues. He doesn't need you confusing him."

"All due respect, Madame Mayor, the fact you have threatened me twice in the last 12 hours makes me want to stay more." Emma said.

"Since when were apples a threat?"

Since you started talking about it like that. Either you're really really into apples, have an autistic interest, or you're threatening us. I'm going with threatening.

"We can read between the lines. Sorry, I just want to make sure Henry's okay."

"He's fine, dear. Any problems he has are being taken care of."

"What does that mean?" Sam asked. "You taking them out to the pier and making them sleep with the fishes?"

Regina scoffed and looked at Sam with a disgusted look. "I am not some criminal, how dare you. It means I have my son in therapy. It's all under control, now take my advice, learn some manners. And you, Miss Swan, only one of us knows what's best for Henry."

"Yeah. I'm starting to think you're right about that."

"It's time for you both to go."

"Or what?"

"Don't underestimate me, Miss Swan. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

Regina stepped into their room and placed the basket of apples down on their table. "Have a good day." She stormed out.

"That was weird, right?"

Emma nodded. "Yeah."

Regina picked an apple off her apple tree when the sounds of footsteps interrupted her thoughts of the Swan twins.

"The Mirror strikes again." Sidney Glass, the local journalist held his paper up high, a proud smile on his face. The front cover had Emma's old mugshot on it. The title read 'Strangers destroy historic sign'.

"You're late."

"Sorry. I wanted to bring you the latest edition. I assure you, it's one of my best hatchet jobs."

Regina glared and pulled the paper out of Sidney's hand, looking at the front. "That's not what I asked for. What did you find out about them?"

"Well, the truth be told, there wasn't much."

"They spent a lot of time in foster homes. She got into some trouble when she was a kid, but the details are locked up pretty tight. Since then, she's clean. Bounced around all over. Same with him. They both have nothing on them. The only thing I really learned was that they really don't like to sit still."

Nothing of use to me.

"That appears to have changed." Regina handed Sidney the paper back and went back to her apple-picking.

Sidney looked worried and quickly went after her. "Did you know that she had Henry while she was in Phoenix?" He stood in front of her with a big smile on his face, looking proud of himself. "How'd he end up in Maine?"

Useless.

"So, if I'm understanding you correctly, you found nothing of value." Sidney's face dropped. "Which means you have no value, Sidney." Regina leaned in close, a threatening tone in her voice. "Do you know what I do with things that hold no value to me? I throw them away."

Sidney stammered "I'll keep looking." He sped out of there, trying to maintain a walking speed to hide how terrified he actually was of Regina as he walked away.

Emma and Sam sat near the counter. Ruby approached them with their order, she was wearing yet another revealing outfit (it seemed to be all she wore), her cleavage on view and a skirt that was already too mini to be considered a miniskirt. She had a red hairband which matched the singular red streak in her hair.

"here you go, Emma." she said, putting down Emma's order. They both ordered hot chocolate with cream on top. Ruby then put Sam's right in front of him. "Here you go, handsome."

Sam blushed.

"Are you sick?" Emma asked.

"Huh? No."

"You look green."

"A sexy green."

Emma and Sam exchanged glances at that comment. Ruby then noticed the newspaper that Emma was reading. It was from The Mirror.

"Sam, why'd you tell Ruby I wanted hot chocolate?"

"I didn't. I only ordered for myself."

Ruby smirked. "You have a secret admirer." She moved her head to her left. Emma looked behind her and Sheriff Graham was sitting alone with some coffee.

"I'll…be right back."

Sam and Ruby didn't reply. Ruby leaned over the table, moving back and forth to try and get Sam to look at her cleavage. "Come on, handsome. You know you want to."

"you're weird."

"Well consider it thanks for last night."

"I don't need thanks."

Ruby pouted.

"Why are you messing with me?"

"Boredom."

Sam turned back to see Emma and Sheriff Graham talking. There was no chance she'd interrupt which meant he was gonna have to face talking to Ruby face on.

Sam turned back around and decided to try and mess with Ruby back. "This place is filthy, y'know. Does it get cleaned? I doubt it. You need to do the windows first, twelve sprays in the corners and the middle, then forty eight wipes, top left to top right, down a little then right to left and so on. Then furniture but only on the top, then the floor from corners to centre, do under the furniture, then sweep the floor, then go over it all again with a hoover. End with checking down seats and under tables and cleaning them out. When doing the chairs and tables you should do an appropriate eight sprays. Also you need to use gloves and make sure you are using good products, none of this cheap shit. Sponges as well as cloths and rags, it'll work better for and liquid spills. The water should be between sixty eight and eighty six Fahrenheit."

Ruby was shocked and confused for a moment but then giggled. "I did not get a word of that, but I'll tell Granny you said the place needs a more thorough cleaning. She may shoot you with her shotgun though, so be warned." Ruby then leaned in and whispered in Sam's ear. "You can clean me out if you want."

Sam gagged and pulled away. "I did not need that image in my head." Great, I've met the one person in the world who isn't weirded out by me and she's weird as shit too. What does that even say about me? Actually, I don't want to know.

"You shouldn't move to Boston."

Ruby's brow raised. "What?"

"Yesterday night, before you went out, you said you should have moved to Boston. I've lived in Boston for a while. Really don't recommend it. Actually, I don't recommend America at all. Or England, or Spain, or France, or India, or really anywhere with a Human population. Except Canada. Canada's awesome. Have you ever been to Steveston, Vancouver? So beautiful."

"I haven't. I've never left Storybrooke, but thanks for the warning, handsome."

Right, the curse. At least she won't follow me back to Boston. That's a relief. New plan, get her to hate me and make her cry.

"So, is it just you and your grandmother? Any moms or dads?"

Ruby's flirty smile dissipated instantly, she still smiled but it didn't feel natural.

And now I feel bad. Fuck sake, it's like Archie's right here with me. Stupid conscience and stupid caring about people and stupid niceness. Why do you wound me so?

"My parents both died in a hiking trip abroad…" She held back a sob. "Wolves. Bit of an uncommon way to go, but it happens."

Oh, no, not the wolves! Not the Wolves! Fuck sake, it's like a furry tailed Nicolas Cage torture scene.

"That's horrible. I'm so sorry. Thank you for being honest with me though, I think? We did just meet. Sorry, if you can't tell, people are not my strong suit."

Ruby laughed, it was a weak laugh but a laugh nevertheless. "I don't know why I did, I don't know. You just seem trustworthy. Maybe you've just got one of those faces but I feel like I've known you before."

"Maybe in another life."

Sam took a sip from the hot chocolate and he reluctantly swallowed it.

"How is it?"

"Lovely."

How do you mess up hot chocolate? Well with the service, poor cleaning and poor food, what reasons does anyone have to come here?

"I knew you'd love it. I could tell you were the hot chocolate type the moment I first laid eyes on you. I was not surprised when you ordered one."

"Then you're a good judge of character."

Just not good at making hot chocolate. Which again, how?!?!?!

"So tell me about yourself, handsome."

Sam didn't answer. He thought back on his life and he knew things about himself but he didn't know what parts about him he should say. "Uhhhh…" Ruby playfully rolled her eyes. "How about what you do for work?"

"Oh, right. Duh. I write."

"And what do you write about, handsome." Ruby leant over the table again, not to mess with him this time but because she was genuinely curious.

"Typically fantasy, some sci-fi stuff, occasionally horror and detective, I don't like to just write one thing. Mainly fantasy though. I think I'd have some fun as a fairy tale character, the movie versions, not the more darker stuff. Little Red Riding Hood was more perverted than what I was told in the foster system."

Ruby's eyes showed immediate interest. "You were in the foster system?"

"Yeah, that's where me and Emma met. Had its ups and downs but it was worth it because Emma is the best sister anyone could ask for, even if she can sometimes be stupid."

"What did she do that was so stupid?"

"If I told you, she'd probably kill me."

"I do love a good secret. Maybe one day then."

"Maybe." You're not as bad as I thought. Still bad, just not as bad as I thought.

Sam turned around to see his sister gone but Graham still there.

"Hey, where'd Emma go?" Graham turned to Sam. "She's taking Henry to school."

"Thanks." Sam turned back round to Ruby. "That explains the cinnamon."

Sam then forced himself to chug the rest of his now not-as-hot chocolate.

"Leaving so soon?"

"Yeah, see you around. Thanks for the hot chocolate."

"You're welcome. Have a nice day, handsome."

"So what's the deal with you and your mom?" Emma asked.

"It's not about us, it's about her curse. We have to break it. Luckily, I have a plan. Step one, identification. I call it, Operation Cobra."

Operation…Cobra? What so cobras have to do with fairy tales?

"Cobra? That has nothing to do with fairy tales."

Henry's voice raised in excitement. "Exactly. It's a code name to throw the Queen off the trail."

"So, everyone here is a fairy tale character, they just don't know it?"

"That's the curse. Time's been frozen. Until you got here." Emma took one of Regina's apples from out her jacket pocket, she had been planning on saving it. Right as she was about to take a bite, Henry exclaimed, "Hey! Where'd you get that?"Emma took the apple away from her mouth. "Your mom." Henry grabbed the apple. "Don't eat that." He threw it over his shoulder.

Seriously? I can't even eat apple? You, kid, need some help.

"Okay? Uh, alright. What about their pasts?"

"They don't know. It's a haze to them. Ask anyone anything and you'll see."

"So, for decades people have been walking around in a haze, not aging, with screwed up memories, stuck in a cursed town that kept them oblivious?" Henry had a big grin on his face. "I knew you'd get it. That's why we need you." Oh, kid. You really, really believe this. This might be harder than I thought.

"Because I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?"

"Yes! And right now we have the advantage. My mom doesn't know that." He lifted the left side of his shirt up and pulled some pages of his storybook out from his waistband, passing them to Emma. "I took out the end. The part with you in it." The illustration had a young man with brown hair holding a baby in a green blanket, the name 'Emma' stitched onto it. The man had a blood stain on his side, not that you could properly tell, but it looked like it was from an aging wound. "See? Your mom is Snow White."

We share a name, that's a coincidence, and a really big leap, kid. "Oh, kid."

"I know the hero never believes at first. If they did, it wouldn't be a very good story. If you need proof, take them, read them. But whatever you do, don't let her see these pages. They're dangerous. If she ever finds out who you are…" Henry had a nervous pause. "It would be bad." Emma and Henry stopped at the front of the school. "I gotta go. But, I'll find you later and we can get started. I knew you'd believe me."

"I never said I did."

"Why else would you be here?" Henry ran off, running right past Mary Margaret, who smiled at Emma and approached her.

"It's good to see his smile back." She said.

"I didn't do anything."

"You stayed. So, does the mayor know you're still here?"

"Oh, she knows. What is her deal? She's not a great people's person. How did she get elected?"

"She's been mayor as long as I can remember." Riiiiiigggghhhtt. "No one's ever been brave enough to face her. She inspires quite a bit of, well, fear. I'm afraid I only made that worse by giving Henry that book. Now he thinks she's the Evil Queen."

Emma's brow raised. "Who does he think you are.""It's silly." Mary Margaret giggled.

"I just got five minutes of silly. Lay it on me."

"Snow White." Emma's smile vanished. That's impossible, we're the same age. Maybe I should talk to Henry's therapist.

"Who does he think you are?"

"I'm not in the book." Emma lied, her eyes rapidly blinking. "Hey, can you do me a favour? Regina mentioned the kid's in therapy. Do you know where I could find the doctor?"

Archie was sitting at his desk, writing notes when he heard a knock at the door. When he looked up, Emma Swan entered.

Don't do this, Archie. His conscious whispered in the back of his mind.

"Hey."

"Emma Swan. I was just reading about you." He got up and picked up Sidney's paper. "Let me guess. You're here for help with a little post-traumatic stress? That diagnosis was free by the way."

Emma laughed. "No, I'm here about Henry."

"I'm sorry, I really shouldn't…"

"I know, I'm sorry, I just…just tell me something. This fairy tale obsession. What is causing it? I mean, he thinks everyone is a character in his book. That's…crazy."

Archie smiled. "I hope you don't talk that way in front of him. The word 'crazy' is quite damaging. These stories, they're his language. He has no idea how to express complex emotions so he's translating the best he can. This is how he communicates. He's using this book to help deal with his problems."

"But he got this book a month ago. Has he been seeing you longer than that?"

"Um, yes, he has."

"So, it's Regina, isn't it."

Archie, stop while you're ahead. You shouldn't do this, this is wrong. If you do this you'd be a hypocrite to all your morals.

"Uh…His mother is a very complicated woman. And, uh, over the years, her attempts to try and bring Henry closer have only backfired."You're not going to forgive yourself for this. You know this is wrong and you're choosing to do it anyway.

Archie entered his filing cabinet and took out Henry's file, holding it out for Emma to take. "Here. Why don't you take a look at the file. Um, you'll see what I mean."

"Why are you doing this?" Regina.

"Well, he uh, he talks about you a lot. And you're very important to him."

"Thank you."

"Just, uh, see that I get it back, okay?" Archie held open his office door. Stop this while you still have the chance. Emma was about to leave when Archie spoke again. "Uh, Miss Swan? For the sake of the boy, be careful how you handle his belief system. Destroying his imagination, would be…would be devastating."

Emma did one simple nod, holding the files close to her chest, she turned around and left, Archie closing the door behind her.

You've made your choice. You have to live with it.

Archie sat down at his desk and picked up his phone, dialing Regina's number. It took only one set of rings for her to answer. "You were right. She was just here."

"Did she take the file?"

"Yes. Uh, how did you know she was gonna come here?"

Archie could feel her smirk on the other end of the line. "Because I'm the one who gave her the idea."

Emma was lying on her bed at Granny's reading Dr. Hopper's files, Sam was pacing back and forth. "So he just gave you the files? That doesn't sound much like Archie, I don't know much about the guy but I assumed he was very…I don't know, ethical. I don't know his morals but giving out patient files seems like it would be out of his sense of morality, or at least the therapist ethics. Isn't it like their number one rule not to divulge about patients to random people. No offence, you're not technically his mother."

"He doesn't seem like he likes Regina either. Honestly, I don't think anyone in this town does."

A knock came at the door. Sam went over and opened it. "Hey, Graham? What's up?"

"I'm here about Dr. Archibald Hopper."

"His full name is Archibald Hopper? The poor bastard."

Graham stifled a laugh. "He said your sister and him got into a bit of a row earlier."

That got Emma's attention, she pulled herself off the bed, leaving the files on the bed. "That's not what happened."

"I was shocked too. Given your shy, delicate sensibilities." Emma rolled her eyes. "He says you demanded to see Henry's files and when he refused, you came back and stole them."

"He gave them to her."

"Alas, he's telling a different tale. May I check your room or must I get a search warrant?"

"Just go right on in, the evidence is on the bed, can't hide it now even if we wanted to. Although, I don't recommend touching them, everything in this room needs to be sanitized."

Graham stepped in and looked over the pieces of paper, picking one up to read the front of. "Well, you're very accommodating." He placed it back down and sighed. I can't believe I have to do this. Sorry, Emma. "I'm afraid, Miss Swan, you're under arrest. Again."

"Good going, sis. You trying to break a record?" He then grabbed Graham by the shoulder and turned him around so they could face each other. "You know she's being set up, right?" Graham turned back around and cuffed Emma. "And who, may I ask, is setting Emma up?"

Henry and the rest of his class were being taught by Mary Margaret outside. Mary Margaret was sitting, leaning her back against a tree while the students sat down cross-legged on the grass.

"…Carbon dioxide and water synthesize."Regina appeared on Mary Margaret's right, clearing her throat to get her attention.

Oh no. Henry thought.

"May I speak with my son?"

"We're in the middle of a lesson. Is it important?"

Regina glared at Mary Margaret and all control she had over the situation was gone in an instant. "Do you think I'd be here if it wasn't." Regina stormed over to Henry, not caring for Mary Margaret's answer. She took Henry away from the rest of the class to speak privately. "Henry, sweetie, I have some bad news. The woman who you brought here, she's been arrested." What did you do?!?! "She broke into Dr. Hopper's office and stole his files. She's a con woman. She's trying to learn about us in order to take advantage of us. That's why she's sticking around. I'm sorry." Liar.

"No, you're not."

Regina struggled to speak at first but then she found her voice. "I know you think otherwise, but all I'm doing is trying to protect you.". No, all you're doing is trying to protect yourself. "This is going to be good for us. You'll see. Things will be better."

The school bell rung. "I gotta get back to class."

Sam stood in the back as Emma got her newest mugshots taken by Graham."You know the shrink is lying, right?" She asked as Graham took the photo of her front.

"To the right, please." Emma turned and he set up the camera for the next shot. "Why would he lie."Sam held back a scoff. Maybe because Regina has the jealousy of a toddler and whenever somebody wants to play with her 'toy' she has a fit.

"The mayor put him up to this." Graham took the photo and Emma turned back round. "She has to have something on him. He's terrified of her. Like everyone in this town.""To the left." Graham set up the next photo and took the shot. "Regina may be a touch intimidating, but I don't think she'd go as far as a frame job." Then you don't know her very well.

"How far would she go? What does she have in her hands in?"

"Well, she's the mayor. She has her hands in everything."

Sam spoke up. "Including the police force?" Graham turned around and gave an unamused look.

"Hey!" Henry ran in with Mary Margaret close behind.

"Henry? Henry, what are you doing here?" Graham asked.

"His mother told him what happened." Mary Margaret explained.

"Of course she did. Henry, I don't know what she said."

"You're a genius."

"What?" Emma's brow raised in confusion.

"I know what you were up to. You were gathering intel." he leaned in a little and whispered. "For Operation Cobra."Operation Cobra? Cobra's don't have much in common with fairy tales? Oh, that's the point, that's clever. Nice one, Henry.

"I'm sorry. I'm a bit lost."

"It's need to know, sheriff. And all you need to know is that Miss Blanchard is gonna bail her out."

Emma, Sam, and Graham all looked at Mary Margaret confused. "You are?"

"I trust you." She answered simply.

Henry grinned at Emma, an 'I told you so' look on his face.

Emma smugly turned to Graham. "Well, if you could uncuff me, I have something to do." Sam and Emma looked each other in the eyes and it was as if they both knew what each other were thinking.

Regina was writing in her notebook in her office when she heard the loud whirring of two motors outside. She shot up out of her chair, and went to her window. Peering outside, she saw Emma and Sam at her apple tree with two chainsaws. They were cutting down two branches, Sam had taken the chance to flip her off as well.

Son of a bitch!

Regina ran outside to confront the two Swan siblings, the two had waited for her.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Cutting apples."

"Fun fact, the honey crisp tree is the most vigorous and hardy tree of all apple trees. It can survive temperatures as low as 40 below and keep growing. It can weather any storm. but it can't take much pressure from a chainsaw." Sam then stuck his tongue out at her.

Regina felt the urge to throw a punch but held herself back.

"You two are out of your minds."

"You came after my sister, you're lucky I did this to your tree and not your neck."

"How dare you!"

"If you think a shoddy frame job can scare us off, you have another thing coming. You're gonna need to do better than that. If you come for either of us again and we'll tear down the rest of your tree. Because, sister, you have no idea what we are capable of." The Swan siblings dropped the chainsaws and Emma made one final comment as they walked away. "Your move."

You'll pay for this. You'll both pay for this.

Emma and Sam unlocked their room's door and were about to step inside when Granny appeared from around the corner.

"Oh, my, this is terribly awkward." She said. "I need to ask you to leave. I'm afraid we have a no felons rule. It turns out it's a city ordinance." She then turned to Sam. "You can stay though."

Would you look at that, Em, not having a criminal record has benefits. How shocking. Hmm…I should stay just in case, this whole thing with Ruby is leading me to remember something of the other life some part of me lived.

"Let me guess. The mayor's office just called to remind you." Emma accused.

Granny didn't verbally confirm it but the look on her face did. "You can gather your things, but I need to make sure you don't keep the room key, that is if your brother is staying?"

Emma turned to Sam. Sam spoke, giving Emma a 'trust me' look. "I'll stay." Emma nodded and gave him the keys.

"I'm sorry about this." Granny frowned and walked away.

Sam checked to make sure she was gone before speaking. "If you want I can sneak you in."

"I'll look around first, if I can't find anything, I'll have to resort to it." She looked at Sam suspiciously. "Why are you staying here? You think this entire place is filthy."

"Consider it a backup. Besides, I'm being brave. I'm offended that you're not congratulating me for partaking in this scarring journey. I'm risking getting so many STD's just by touching the front door."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Right. Well, have fun with Ruby, she's gonna mess with you all week long."

When Graham went to the back of Regina's house, he found her collecting apples off the floor, a small basket by her side, the two torn off branches thrown off to the side.

Regina noticed Graham and sighed. "They destroyed city property. I want them both arrested."

"Again?"

"For her? Yes. For him? No, it'll be the first time. Bastard's probably involved in stealing Archie's files too, just can't prove it."

"I'm just not convinced arresting her is the right plan." Regina stood up, an angry expression on her face. "And I'm not talking about your tree." This is getting silly now, no more playing games, Regina. "We both know they didn't steal those files."

"Oh, do we?"

"They both looked pretty shocked when I levelled the charges against her."

"It's because they don't like getting caught."

"Or it was a setup." Admit it, Regina. "And if it was a setup, that means Dr. Hopper was lying. And if he's lying that means someone asked him to. Are we really confident that the man's conscience won't eventually get the best of him?" We both know it will.

"I think your schoolboy crush is clouding your judgement! Remember, I made you sheriff. And I can take it away just as easily."

Too damn stubborn.

"You want me to arrest them? I will."

"Good." Regina turned away from the sheriff and went back to picking up the fallen apples.

"But they're gonna keep coming at you. And I know you're going to keep coming at them. And you will do whatever it takes to get her out of here, and you may succeed-"

Regina interrupted him, turning back around and peering up at him with a fierce gaze. "No. I will succeed. He's my son. It's what's best for him."

You're taking it too far, Regina, I know you care about him but that's blinding you from how you're hurting him.

"I know that's what you believe. But if this escalates, it seems to me the only one who will get hurt is Henry."

Regina tried to speak but she couldn't, a sad look in her eyes.

Emma was walking down the street, just near Granny's Diner when she noticed her yellow bug with one of those red wheel stoppers attached to her front wheel. Son of a bitch.

A ring came from her phone that sat snugly in her pocket. Emma picked it up and put the phone to her right ear.

Regina's voice came out from the phone speaker. "Miss Swan, I'd be happy to continue demonstrating my power, but am I right in guessing your resolve to stay is only growing?"

"You have no idea."

"Well then, I think it's time we made peace. Why don't you drive over to my office? Or walk. Whatever suits you. You can bring your brother too."

Fine, Regina. If this is how it has to be, we'll play your game, but we'll win it.

"I'd like to start by apologising." Regina said.

Emma spoke, sitting down. "What?"

Sam paced around the room, he mumbled under his breath. "Bullshit."

Regina continued. "I just have to accept the reality that you both want to be here."

"That's right, we do."

"I also have to accept the reality that you're here to take my son from me."

Sam didn't mumble this time. "Fuck off, that is not what's happening here. If anything, you've taken him away from yourself."

I should tear your heart out and crush it, you bastard.

"Sam's right. We have no intention of taking him from anyone."

"Well, then, what are you doing here?"

Emma held back a sigh. "I know I'm not a mother. I think that's pretty self-evident. But I did have him. And I can't help it, he's got in my head, and I want to make sure he's okay. And the more you try to push me out, the more I want to be here, especially after seeing how troubled he is."

"And I just don't want to go back to Boston." Sam added.

"You think Henry's troubled?" Regina's lip quivered.

"Well, he's in therapy. And I only got through a couple of pages of his shrink's notes before you had me arrested. But putting all that aside, he thinks everyone in this town is a fairy tale character."

"And you don't?"

Sam spoke up. "How can we? Fairy tale characters being in a small town in Maine? That's ridiculous." Sam stopped pacing and saw Henry enter. "oh fuck" he whispered.

"He cant tell the difference between fiction and reality. And it's getting worse. It's crazy." Emma added

"You think I'm crazy?" Henry had the most disappointed look on his face."

"Henry…" Emma began starting to get up, Henry then quickly ran out of the room.

"I'll go after him." Sam said, rushing out the room.

You should have left when you had the chance.

"How long was he there?" Emma scowled at Regina.

"Long enough." A smug look came across her face.

"You knew he would be here."

"Did I know that my son comes to my office every Thursday at precisely 5:00 p.m. so I can take him for dinner before his therapy session? Of course I did. I'm his mother." Which is why you need to back off! "Your move."

"You have no soul. How in the hell did you get like this?"

Regina didn't answer and Emma left, no more words spoken between the two.

Sam grabbed Henry's shoulder before he could get too far away from his mother's house.

"Wait."

"Go away! You don't believe me!" He shouted.

"Emma doesn't, I do. Regina is the Evil Queen, Emma is daughter to Snow White and Prince Charming, Marco is Geppetto, Mary Margaret is Snow White, Dr. Hopper is Jiminy Cricket, Leroy is one of the seven dwarves, and I'm someone from their world too, I just can't remember. Something happened to me, I did something that fractured myself, so one part of me could keep my memories, I just have to get mine back so I can fully understand what my other self knows. He won't tell me directly so my guess is it's some protection magic so he couldn't be intercepted by Regina." Sam explained. "I think my full name is Samishtara."

Henry looked as if he didn't fully believe him. "You're not in the book."

"Is everyone? I've seen some people that I know for a fact aren't in those pages."

Henry knew that was true, he thought about Dr. Whale, he had no idea who Whale was from the book. "Alright, but we still need to convince my real mom."

"And we'll do just that. Trust me, kid. These people have suffered long enough."

Sam then wanted to ask Henry a question, he wanted to ask who Ruby was in the book but he held his tongue and then asked a different question instead. "Do you ever feel like you're being watched?"

"By my mom?"

"No, she's too obvious with it. This one isn't making any moves, it just feels like it's watching me, watching everyone."

Henry shook his head. "No. Never."

Sam shook his head. "Never mind."

Emma stopped herself for a moment but she knew she had to do it. So, she knocked on Mary Margaret's door. Mary Margaret answered quite quickly, having been close to the door when Emma had knocked.

"Hey. I just wanted to say thank you" And beg for a place to stay. "And pay you back your bail money." She tossed the money, Mary Margaret catching it in her right hand.

Emma stood there awkwardly, Mary Margaret smiled. "You look like you need to talk."

Desperately.

Mary Margaret had made a drink for Emma and even offered some cinnamon before they both ended up sat down.

"When you bailed me out, you said that you trusted me. Why?"

"it's strange. Ever since you arrived here, I've had the oddest feeling like we've met before. And I know it's crazy."

"I'm starting to reevaluate my definition of crazy."

"For what it's worth, I think you're innocent."

"Of breaking and entering or just in general?"

"Whichever makes you feel better."

Just ask. Worse case scenario, you do genuinely break and enter into Sam's room.

"It doesn't really matter what anyone thinks I did or didn't do. I'm leaving. Without Sam. Thank you for everything, but I think it's for the best. If I stay, Henry's only gonna keep getting hurt and Sam's been holding his own without getting on Regina's radar. And he liked it here. So, I think it's best for everyone involved."

Mary Margaret looked disappointed. "What happens if you go? I think the very fact that you want to leave is why you have to stay, and I think so even more if you're leaving your brother, someone a part of you here, to be what? A guardian Angel to Henry? You know you don't want to leave, you're just trying to tell yourself you do. You care about Henry, and let's be honest, Sam can't protect Henry all by himself. He needs protecting."

She's right. Now just ask. Come on, Emma, for once break down your walls.

"Mary Margaret, can I ask you something?"

Mary Margaret looked interested. "Sure."

Mr. Gold entered Regina's back garden. The bottom of his cane pushing into the dirt below his feet. Regina was rubbing the cutting point of the branch Emma had cut off.

"What a mess." He said.

"Not for long. What can I do for you, Mr. Gold?"

"I was just in the neighbourhood, thought I'd pop by. Lovely to see you in high spirits."

Regina laughed. "It's been a good day. I just rid the town of an unwanted nuisance."

The Swan siblings…oh dearie, how naive.

"The Swans?"

"Oh yes, I imagine they're halfway to Boston by now."

Gold had a wicked smile on his face, he picked one of the apples off Regina's tree. "I wouldn't bet on that. I've just seen her strolling down the Main Street with you boy, as for Mr. Swan, he doesn't seem to have budged from his nice room at the diner." He paused intentionally, adding extra gas to fire. "Your boy and her looked thick as thieves." And now the sales pitch, dearie. "Perhaps you should've come to me. If the Swans are a problem you can't fix, I'm only too happy to help. For a price, of course."

Regina laughed in his face. "I'm not in the business of making deals with you anymore."

We'll see how long you keep that tune. "To which deal are you referring?"

"You know what deal."

"Oh, right, yeah. The boy I procured for you. Henry. Did I ever tell you what a lovely name that was?" His smile only widened, he was enjoying this more than Regina liked. "However did you pick it?"

Regina turned away from her tree, accusation dripping in her tone. "Did you want them to come to town? You wanted all of this to happen, didn't you? Your finding Henry wasn't an accident, was it?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Where did you get him? Do you know something?"

"I have no idea what you're implying."

"I think you do. Who are they really? What are their significance?"

"I would say you think you know exactly who they are. I really must be going."

Regina stepped in his way as he attempted to leave. "Tell me what you know about them."

"I'm not gonna answer you, dear. So, I suggest you excuse me. Please."

Regina's face went emotionless for just a moment, and she just stopped, letting Gold pass and leave. She turned around to see him walking off, he threw the apple over his shoulder, hitting the ground with a thud

Sam sat at the front counter of the diner. He was on call with Emma. "So you're staying at Mary Margaret's, great. It was nice of her to let you stay."

"Yeah, it was." Emma said through the phone speaker.

"Maybe you should lower those walls moreoften."

"Ha. Very funny."

"Anyway, how's Henry?"

"Good. We burnt the pages and I convinced him I only said that to trick Regina into thinking we're non-believers."

In turn, tricking him into thinking you are a believer.

"That's great, it'll be a slow process but I think there's hope yet, this fairy tale nonsense can be put behind us once and for all."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow. Try not to freak out over all the germs."

Sam laughed. "I'll try. Night, sis." He ended the call, and as if on cue Ruby had walked to the counter. She bent over the table in front of him, a flirty smile on her face.

"hey, handsome. Sorry 'bout you sister."

"it's fine."

"I could help keep your bed warm tonight if it helps."

Sam avoided eye contact with her. "No thanks."

"Boring."

"That's typically me."

"I'm glad you're both staying."

"You are?"

Ruby pinched his cheek. "I get to see this handsome face some more."

Sam pushed her hand away from his cheek. "Good to know I'm sufficient eye candy."

"More than sufficient." Her hand played with Sam's glove, pulling it up and letting it flick back down.

Sam once again pulled away.

Who are you? And why do I feel like this?

"It's getting late, I'll see you in the morning."

"Fine, keep playing hard to get. I know you want me." She did a light wave. "Night, handsome."

"Night, Ruby."

When he got up to his room, which still had Emma's bed in, because they couldn't be bothered to give him a new single room (and also he never asked), he found his other self laying on his bed and staring up at the ceiling.

"You should be nicer to her, me."

"Who is she?"

"I can't tell you that but she's important. Important to us. She's the key to relearning yourself. Open that door."

"you're being cryptic."

"Actually, WE are being cryptic."

"Just go away, we'll talk about this in the morning."

"Fine." The other Sam dissipated into nothingness.

Sam then got on the bed and sat there, groaning.

I'm getting the feeling this will be a rough ride. Why do I get myself into these messes? I wonder if getting my memories back will explain that shit. Probably not. Damn it. Life is hard already, now fucking magic apple bullshit is in the mix, why is it the insane shit that always happen to me? I better get some fucking answers this time.

After a little while, he felt himself enter his next dream (or dream memory?) state.