. . . . . ╰──╮✰ ✰ ✰ ╭──╯ . . . . .

‎‧₊˚✧ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ✧˚₊‧

‎‧₊˚✧ᴏɴᴄᴇ ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴀ ᴛɪᴍᴇ✧˚₊‧

______

"Once Upon A Time

There was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know.

Or think we know.

One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen.

Our World.

This is how it happened."

______

"Hey, are you still with me?"

Angelica Frost glanced up from her coffee. "Yeah, sorry Ruby."

Ruby, the head waitress at Granny's Diner, held out a pot of fresh coffee. "Would you like some more, Angie?"

"Yes, please," Angie said with a quick nod. As Ruby was pouring the coffee, Angie quickly gained an idea. "Hey, do you still have any baklava left?"

Ruby chuckled. "Not if you keep eating all of it. But your bottomless pit of a stomach is good for business, so I'm not complaining."

Angie rolled her eyes at her. "Baklava please."

"Right away, ma'am," Ruby said, moving her left hand in a salute.

Angie smiled. Ruby was a great friend. She was on the tall side, with ebony hair that was adorned with crimson streaks. Ruby always made her waitress outfit her own. By her own, Angie meant that Ruby's skirt was always the shortest and tightest of all the employees. Angie's own looks were alright. She had long dark chocolate waves and brown eyes. Ruby always said that Angie looked as if she had a regal look to her. The only thing that Angie didn't like about her appearance was the fact that she was shorter than the average chipmunk.

The bell at the front of the diner sang as the door opened. A woman with short, raven hair stormed in and sat immediately down at the counter next to Angie.

Angie raised her eyebrows. "You okay, Regina?"

"That's Madam Mayor to you, Miss Frost," Regina Mills replied in a snarky tone. "No! My son is missing and I have no idea where he is!"

Angie took another sip of coffee. "He's Henry, he's probably out catching frogs or something."

"Not everyone grew up in the slums like you did," Regina replied. Ruby walked over with a glass of liquor. Regina snatched it out of her hands and drank the whole thing. Angie instinctively scooted a few more inches away from the mayor.

"How about this? We'll call Graham and go to your place. If Henry doesn't show up by the morning, we'll organize a search party."

Regina looked like she was about to deny the offer until she realized that it might be her best option. "Fine. Thank you, Miss Frost."

"I'm not doing this for you, Madam Mayor," Angie replied. "I'm doing this for the ten year old boy who may be in danger."

—

"It's ten o' clock at night and we've still heard nothing!" Regina threw her hands up in anguish.

"Give it time," Angie suggested from her spot on top of Regina's desk. She glanced up at Sheriff Graham, who was twirling his gun in his hands. "Please tell me safety is on."

"Of course," Graham replied instantly. "I'm not an amateur." Still, Graham checked the gun. "Yep, definitely not an amateur."

Suddenly, the tinkling sound of the doorbell startled the trio. Regina instantly got up and ran to the door. Graham had to dodge to avoid getting knocked over as Angie scrambled to follow her. Regina practically threw the door open, revealing Henry standing beside a woman with blonde hair. 

Regina pulled him into an elephant sized hug.  "Oh Henry! Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?"

Henry wriggled his way out of Regina's arms. "I found my real mom!" he yelled before dashing in between Graham and Angie. Angie heard the clunking noise of his feet hitting the stairs. Regina looked closer at the blonde woman.

"You're Henry's birth mother?"

The woman nervously held her hand up in a small wave. "Hi."

Clearly made awkward by the situation, Graham announced, "I'll just go check on the lad, make sure he's okay."

"I'll come with," Angie stated, not wanting to get caught in a birth mother v.s. adoptive mother battle royale.

By the time Graham and Angie reached Henry's room, the little boy was already in his bed, reading a comic. Angie plopped down on Henry's bed. "How are you doing, little buddy?"

Henry put down his comic. "Good."

"Good," Graham replied. "I'll go report to the boss." He leaned in next to Angie. "Can you take it from here? I'm not great with kids."

Angie chuckled. "Go ahead."

Henry watched closely as Graham exited the room, making sure that the sheriff closed the door. The second Graham was out of earshot, Henry perked up. "You won't believe it! I've saved us!"

"How?" Angie asked, confused.

"I brought our savior. She's gonna break the curse!"

Angie sighed. Of course. Henry had this foolish belief that everyone in the town of Storybrooke was a fairy tale character trapped by his mom, who he thought was the Evil Queen. "Kiddo, there isn't a curse."

"Yes there is! You just don't remember because my mom wiped your memory."

Angie sighed a second time. She had the feeling that the only thing she could do was play along with Henry. "Okay, you've convinced me. Who is that woman supposed to be?"

"She's my birth mother. Aka the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming and our savior!"

Angie smiled. "Of course she is. Why don't you plan out your master plot in the morning? That face," Angie said as she gently gripped his cheeks. "Goes there." She gently pushed his head into the pillow. Henry giggled.

"Good night Angie!"

Angie smiled. "Good night, Henry."

—

Angie woke up to a loud banging on the door. She jolted up from the couch where she had fallen asleep and rubbed her eyes. She didn't remember what time she had conked out. She vaguely remembered her roommate leaving that morning, but the rest was a blur. There was another sharp knock at the door. Angie sighed. "Coming."

She unbolted the front door and Regina barged in. Angie yawned. "Regina, it's eight in the morning. You know that I don't function properly until, like, eleven."

"I don't care if you're a vampire and can't properly function until midnight! Henry's gone again!"

"Wha-"

"I went into his room this morning and he was gone!"

Angie sighed. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think he's trying to run away from you."

Regina slammed her purse on the table. "Henry would never do that!"

"Well, he already has. Twice."

"Miss Frost," Regina replied with a plea. "Will you help me get my son back or not?"

Angie was about to say no, but she reminded herself This is for Henry, not Regina. "Fine. Give me ten minutes and we'll go to see Graham at the station."

—

"Graham!" Regina hollered. "Henry's run away again and we have to-" Regina cut herself off as she turned the corner. Angie followed into the station after Regina and spotted Graham speaking with the blonde woman from last night, Henry's birth mother, who was currently in a cell.

"What is she doing here?" Regina spat. "Does she know where he is?"

"Lady, I haven't seen him since I dropped him at your house. And frankly, I have a good alibi." The woman gestured at the cell.  "I've been here since a damn wolf walked in front of my car and I rammed into the town sign.  Apparently, that's damage to public property and my problem, even though it was the stupid wolf's fault."

"I knew I was gonna like you," Angie smiled. The woman smiled back. Regina flicked Angie on the forehead.

"We are here for a reason, Frost." She turned back to the woman. "He wasn't in his room this morning."

"Did you try his friends?" the woman questioned.

"He doesn't really have any, unless you count Angie. And I already checked with her. He's a bit of a loner," Regina replied.

The woman was unfazed by the situation. "Every kid has friends. Did you check his computer? If he was close to someone, he'd be emailing them."

"And you know this, how?" Regina questioned.

"Finding people is what I do," the woman announced. "Here's an idea: how about you guys let me out, and I'll help you find him."

Regina made a grunting noise and gestured at Graham. Graham pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the woman's cell. Angie held out her hand to the woman. "Angelica Frost. Nicknames only. Just not Angel. Sounds wrong."

The woman shook her hand. "Swan. Emma Swan."

—

Emma set right to work after they returned to Regina's home. Regina put in the password for Henry's computer and Emma started going through it.

"Smart kid," Emma remarked. "Cleared his inbox. I'm smart too." She held up a small USB drive. "This is a little hard disk recovery utility I like to use."

Angie leaned down to look at the computer as Graham spoke. "I'm a bit more old-fashioned in my techniques. Pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, that sort of thing."

"You're on salary. I get paid for delivery. Pounding pavement is not a luxury that I get," Emma replied. "Ah, there's a receipt for a website, whosyourmomma.org.  It's expensive. He has a credit card?"

"He's ten," Regina replied.

"He used one," Emma said as she pulled up a transaction record. "It says that the card belongs to Mary Margaret Blanchard. Who is Mary Margaret Blanchard?"

"Henry's teacher," Regina said at the same time that Angie said, "My roommate."

—

As usual, Regina barged straight into Mary Margaret's classroom. Mary Margaret glanced up from some papers she was grading. Mary Margaret was one of the nicest people that Angie had ever met, with neat black hair in a pixie cut and soft features.  She rarely ever yelled, though Angie admittedly had pushed that limit several times.  Mary Margaret sighed and addressed Regina. "Miss Mills, what are you doing here?"

"Where is my son?" Regina questioned.

"I assumed he was at home with you," Mary Margaret replied.

"You think I'd be here if he was?" Regina replied snarkily. She pointed a finger at Emma, who had entered the room with Angie shortly behind Regina. "Did you give him your credit card so he could find her?"

Mary Margaret curiously peered at Emma. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"I'm-I'm his–" Emma stuttered before Regina cut her off.

"The woman who gave him up for adoption."

Angie finally broke her silence. "You don't know anything about this, do you, May?"

"Hey Ange! I didn't see you there. No, unfortunately not." Mary Margaret opened her wallet and searched for her credit card. Unfortunately, she came up empty. "Clever boy. I should never have given him that book."

"What in the hell is this book I keep hearing about?" Regina questioned sharply.

"Just some old stories I gave him. As you well know, Henry is a special boy. So smart, so creative, and, as you might be aware, lonely. He needed it."

"What he needs is a dose of reality. This is a waste of time." Regina turned to Emma. "Have a nice trip back to Boston," she said harshly. Regina stormed straight out of the room, knocking into a pile of books, but not bothering to stop and pick up her mess. Mary Margaret dropped down to gather up the books.

Angie instantly went to help Mary Margaret. "Sorry about that."

"No, it's okay. Really."

Angie noticed that Emma was still standing at the door. Despite not having wanted any part in Henry's life when she gave birth to him, Emma seemed intent on ensuring that Henry was safe. Angie wanted to do her best to ensure that Henry was safe as well.

She looked Mary Margaret straight in the eyes. "May, I'm not helping Regina because I want to. I'm helping because Henry needs me. He needs to be loved and he needs to know he is safe. If you know anything about where he is, please tell us."

Mary Margaret considered her response before finally saying, "Have you checked his castle?"

—

Henry was seated on the floor of a wooden castle. It reminded Angie of a play structure that she used to play on as a kid. She didn't have too many good childhood moments, so it was nice to reminisce about one. Angie had grown up too fast. She didn't want that for Henry.

Emma looked reluctant to go over to Henry. Angie pulled Henry's storybook out of her jacket and handed it to Emma. Emma looked confused. "What's this for?"

Angie gave Emma a pointed look. "Go talk to your son."

"I don't think he wants me. Regina clearly doesn't."

"Then why did he come to find you?" Angie questioned.

That caused Emma to go silent. She took a deep breath before heading over to the castle. Angie watched from Emma's yellow car as Emma sat down next to Henry and talked to him. They exchanged some words before Emma took his hand and brought him to the car. Henry climbed into the backseat as Angie leaned over from the passenger's seat. "Don't scare us like that again, kiddo."

"Sorry," Henry said quietly.

Emma got in the driver's seat and started the car. "C'mon kid. Let's get you home."

—

Angie waited in the car as Emma brought Henry back to his home. Regina took Henry in her arms like she had the first time. Henry ran inside right after like he did the first time. Emma began to speak to Regina. Even though Emma seemed to be speaking calmly, Angie could tell that Regina was starting to get annoyed. Angie wasn't the best at reading lips, but she had a feeling that they were talking about custody, which definitely wouldn't be an easy subject for either of the women.

Finally, Emma returned to the car looking disheartened. Angie took in a sharp breath. "Sorry, she's a bit..."

"Of a witch?"

"I was going to say messed up, but that works too." Angie uncrossed her legs. "What did she say to you?"

"Nothing."

"Emma-"

"Nothing important. But she's made it clear I will never be an important part of Henry's life." Emma wiped a small tear from her eye. "Now, where do you live? I'll give you a ride."

"Don't worry. I'll walk. I need to get some fresh air anyway."

"Are you sure?" Emma questioned.

"Yeah," Angie confirmed. She opened the car door and slid out. "I've always been alone. I'm good at it."

Angie shut the door to Emma's car and watched as she drove away. Angie decided to take a walk for a little bit. She strolled around town, simply taking in the familiar sights that she had known for a long time now. After a few minutes of walking, she arrived at the abandoned clock tower above the library. The clock had been broken as long as she could remember. The time on that clock had always been 8:15.

Suddenly, there was a loud clang. Stunned, Angie glanced up at the clock tower. It now read 8:16. Angie glanced across the street to Regina's house, where she could see Henry through his bedroom window, also noticing the clock. Henry noticed her and held up his storybook. It's changing, he mouthed to her.

Angie looked back up at the clock. There was no way that Henry was right about the curse. But things were definitely changing in Storybrooke.

The first picture was made by the lovely marvelgirl_10

The mood board was made by the lovely oneilsreid