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A YOUNG GIRL swung the front door to her home with a wide smile on her face. "Father, guess what I caught today?" She called into the house, expecting her father to respond from the kitchen or the living area.There was a bow slung across her shoulders with its matching quiver. She had a sack in one hand as her other hand swept the baby hairs that she couldn't sweep into a braid no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't have been older than ten years old. Any other thinking human being wouldn't have their child do what she did, which by the looks of it, was hunting for food. She was in no way abused or forced to labor, though.She loved hunting. The woods gave her solitude. It held her favorite memories with her father. The bow was something they both loved."Father?" The young girl called again as she walked into her home, peeking at the living area and the kitchen. Both were empty. Meanwhile, behind the house, angered voices created an aura that opposed the one inside. Four men were dressed in what seemed to be white navy uniforms. Two of them forced the fifth man in rugged jeans and a leather jacket rather harshly down to his knees."Did you actually believe you'll escape the king's clutches, Nathan?!" One man, who appeared to lead the group, spat the man's name as he yelled the question. "You think it's so easy to just run off and betray the navy, huh? That's treason!"They didn't draw any attention despite the man's yelling. Their home was isolated away from the village."I was gone for more than 10 years, Arran," Nathan said. His face was covered in bruises. "I'd be hoping the king would drop a case when a man is nowhere to be found,"Arran simply chuckled and said, "Nowhere to be found? I have to say, your plan to escape to another realm is brilliant. But, you should know that our king is very clever and has powerful connections," His face lit up mockingly. "Of course you wouldn't know that. You turned around on your first mission,"The two men hardened their grip on Nathan and he groaned."And since you left so early," Arran continued. "I'm betting you're not aware of the consequences of treason," He then pulled out a sword that was strapped on his belt.The man on his knees tried to hide his emotions as he said, "You work for a king who strives for order and peace, and yet, he encourages death amongst his people. What good are you working for?"He groaned again as the two men gripped him tighter, silencing him, and Arran tapped the sword against his left hand, the arrogant look on his eyes saying it all."Father?!"At the sound of the voice, all men turned to see the young brunette girl, whose face was mortified at the scene.Nathan's face fell completely at the sight of the child, managing to say, "Get inside, Cookie,"The girl was breathless. Her father's use of her nickname was nothing compared to the thoughts running in her head. All she could think of was hunting. While it wasn't against the law, it was a risk only a few were willing to take.The girl's eyes didn't leave her father's, not even caring why the navy out of everyone would be handling this."F-Father, wh-what's..." She stuttered, slowly took a step forward.He turned to Arran and pleaded, "Please, not now. Not in front of my girl,"Arran studied the girl and his eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of the chain on the girl's neck. Based on that alone, he immediately knew she was Nathan's.He turned back to the man with a raised brow, "A daughter, huh? Too bad... She looks nothing like you.""FATHER?!" The girl's heart raced as she looked from Arran's sword to her beaten father.She couldn't lose her father.She couldn't.She started walking towards them as tears were already welling up in her eyes and the fourth man held her back as everything happened too fast for the ten-year-old.

"NO!"

Her scream was all that could be heard as the sword was thrust into her father's stomach. His face was stricken with fear, not of death but of the trauma, he knew he set on his daughter forever.Arran mercilessly removed the bloodied sword from his body as the life left his eyes and he fell to the ground.The girl screamed out of grief, fear, fury, and hatred for the men as she elbowed the man behind her. He groaned at the impact and released the girl momentarily, allowing her to run towards her father. A second man tried to pull her away, but the second he laid hands on her, she kicked his groin and landed a punch on his face. She proceeded with the third man with a hook on the jaw followed by an elbow to the stomach.Arran watched the girl with wide eyes as she knelt beside her father's bloodied corpse. He suddenly found himself looking at her tear-stricken face, but her eyes were fearful when she realized she was face to face with her father's murderer.The young girl slowly stood up and backed up, but slipped in her petrified state. All the other men have recovered from her blows by then as they all looked at her with one thought in mind: they had to get rid of her.It was part of the deal they made; they couldn't leave any trace of themselves behind.Still panting, the girl reached for her boot and pulled out a knife.She knew she couldn't take on all four men by herself — not while she couldn't see through the tears, not while she couldn't think straight, and not while she couldn't accept that her father was gone.Her eyes quickly swept past the three other men until her gaze landed on Arran, who's white uniform was stained with her father's blood. One of the other men tried launching himself for the girl, and out of fear, the girl instinctively threw the knife straight at him.Straight to his heart.Everyone's eyes bulged out of their sockets as the man collapsed on the ground, lifeless.Taking advantage of the shock, the girl sprinted past the men and went back into the house. She picked up her equipment and her sack before running away.Away from the men.Away from the house.Away from her dead father.She never looked back.Later that week, the news was reported in the village of the man's death and the girl's disappearance.The girl's name was Brooklyn Natalie.
YEARS LATER
DREAMS WERE SAID TO BE A MANIFESTATION OF YOUR EMOTIONS. It taps into our subconscious desires, deepest fears, or current emotions and plays them out in our minds like a movie as we sleep.Although dreams were a product of our own minds, they weren't always constructed in a manner that was easily understood by the dreamer. If they were lucky enough to remember the dream, they could probably decipher it when they woke up, but usually, it only left the emotions that it stimulated.In Brooklyn's case, she could only remember two distinct voices that spoke to her."...Start again," One of them whispered, and another one whispered, "...Would be so proud of you,"By how the two voices spoke, it was clear that they were only parts of the full message. They were just fragments of a conversation, but Brooklyn couldn't remember the rest no matter how hard she tried.She couldn't even see the faces of the two men the voices belonged to. She could only pinpoint the English accent of the first voice and the American baritone of the second.Another thing about that dream, which was the same dream every single night, was that it always felt like it lasted years. She could easily blame it on having a good night's sleep, but there was a feeling every morning that made her think that she was so much older than she was.The brunette would always get out of bed, run a hand through her tangled hair, and look at herself in the bathroom mirror. Every day, the same surprised yet relieved face of a sixteen-year-old girl would greet her.Sixteen.Brooklyn scoffed at the thought of just being sixteen years old. She was just a teenager, an orphan, but it never felt like it. Her mind felt wiser, and her soul felt older. Something didn't sit right, but she often blamed it on the dream, which played with her subconscious every night.Her eyes averted from her face to her neck, to the dog tag that hung from a silver chain. The brunette held onto it, bringing it up to read what was written on it.
JONES, BROOKLYN NATALIE W.J.

000-00-0000 AF

B POS

THE LEGEND
It was an heirloom, she remembered what her father told her when he gave it to her. The name was hers—Brooklyn Natalie, but Jones and W.J. weren't hers nor her father's. The dog tag belonged to an Air Force pilot from generations ago who flew under the callsign "THE LEGEND", and Brooklyn was named after her.Brooklyn sighed as she removed the chain over her head and got ready for the day, showering and changing into a simple white shirt, jeans, and her favorite brown leather jacket. She grabbed her phone and apartment keys, heading out the door, only to stub her toe on something and curse under her breath."Really?" She muttered to herself, raising a brow at the culprit: a cardboard box. She picked it up and read the note taped on top.
''Found some spare clothes in my apartment. Hope you like them :)

-M. Margaret"
Brooklyn opened the box to find warmer clothing inside and smiled at Mary-Margaret's choice of style, bringing the box back inside.Before she headed back out though, she decided to look at herself in the mirror— not in vain, but almost as if she had to remind herself who she was.Sixteen-year-old Brooklyn Natalie in her favorite brown leather jacket and the chain around her neck that held her dog tag.The diner's bell jingled its tune as Brooklyn pushed the door open to Granny's diner, and the high-pitched chime made Ruby jump, the girl straightening her posture and quickly tucking her phone into her back pocket."Oh, it's just you," She sighed in relief, seeing her friend enter. "I thought you were a customer. Granny hates when I text on the job,"The teenager took a seat on one of the stools and smirked, saying, "Well, I'm not on duty yet so I still count as a customer," Ruby glared at her, and Brooklyn laughed, "It's just me! You're fine,"Ruby rolled her eyes playfully at her friend as a smile crept on her face. She turned around to grab a mug and pour Brooklyn some morning coffee, and the teenager couldn't help but mentally thank Granny for letting her skip the uniform.Ruby's uniform blouse was tied to reveal a part of her stomach, but overall, Brooklyn just couldn't imagine herself wearing a white button-up and red skirt."So, any stories to tell?" Brooklyn asked.Ruby slid her the warm mug and shook her head, "Nah, same old every day. You?""Not much either," Brooklyn said, taking a sip. "Same faces, same routine,"Ruby simply shrugged, "I guess that's life,"She bent down and rested her elbows on the counter as she brought her phone back out and resumed whatever she had been doing on it.Brooklyn wasn't bothered by Ruby's actions as her thoughts wander off to when she first met the girl.The teenager was casually nibbling on a chocolate bar she stole one night as she smirked to herself, thinking, "A warning isn't gonna stop me, Graham,"A concerned resident spotted her wandering alone and pointed her to Granny's Inn, and Brooklyn remembered being weirded out at the sudden gesture. Any other townspeople would have shot her dirty looks or avoided her altogether then. The teenager was infamous for causing trouble by stealing and annoying the sheriff when it suited her, the old woman either hadn't heard of her or didn't recognize her to Brooklyn's luck.When Brooklyn arrived at the Inn, Ruby was the first one she saw at the desk and immediately offered her a room. Granny let her stay without cash payment, but instead offered Brooklyn a part-time job at the diner. Ruby was more than willing to help, and Brooklyn soon found herself somehow getting along with her first friend.Brooklyn was snapped out of her thoughts as the diner's bell rang, and Ruby straightened her back as a grin formed on her face, greeting, "Mary-Margaret, what can I get you?"Brooklyn turned on her seat to see the dark-haired woman take a seat at one of the tables and smile, "I'll have my usual order,""Got it!" Ruby replied and proceeded to the kitchen.Brooklyn smiled as she made eye-contact with Mary-Margaret, and she hopped off the stool to sit opposite her."Good morning, Brooke," Mary-Margaret smiled warmly. "Did you get the clothes I left earlier?"Brooklyn nodded and said, "Yeah, thanks! Although do you really think you can get me out of this one?"Mary-Margaret chuckled in agreement as the teenager tugged at her jacket and said, "No, of course not. You've always loved that flight jacket of yours,""It matches my necklace," Brooklyn told her with a smile. "So... I was wondering if I could come over for dinner later?"She added a cheeky grin at the end, which made Mary-Margaret laugh and easily respond, "You're always welcome,"Brooklyn pumped her fist victoriously and whispered, "YES!"Mary-Margaret's smile widened in response.The rest of the morning was a blur to Brooklyn, who honestly never much attention to her shift. Nothing interesting ever happened in the morning aside from the occasional grumpy customer.The one thing she looked forward to was the afternoon. She'd stand outside the school, hands tucked in her pocket as she patiently waited for the school bell to ring and the children to run out excitedly."Brooklyn!"The said teenager perked up, and she grinned as she saw the young boy running towards her.Henry Mills, the ten-year-old son of the mayor, was a kid she babysat since he was six. An especially odd job considering her track record with the sheriff, but Henry was the light of her life. The boy was always doing something unexpected and made tomorrow sound more exciting than yesterday.Today, he had a large leather book that he held up to Brooklyn."Brooke, check this out!" He grinned excitedly. He showed her the front cover of the book and it read ONCE UPON A TIME.Brooklyn bent down to his level and feigned surprise as she said, "Woah, Henry, you read all of this already?"Henry frowned and said, "Of course not, Brooke!"Brooklyn chuckled amusingly, "I know, I'm just messing with you. You didn't have this yesterday. Come on, why don't you tell me all about that in your castle?"Henry's eyes lit up and he said, "Let's go!"Henry's "castle" was the wooden castle that stood in an abandoned playground by the docks. Children didn't really visit it anymore after the school put up their own playground that was much closer, which only made this particular playground much more special to Henry and Brooklyn.Brooklyn watched as Henry hoisted himself up the wooden castle's platform without the need for the stairs, smiling proudly as weeks of him practicing clearly paid off."So, how was school today?" She asked.Henry shot her a look and said, "Do you ask that question just because you babysit me? It's the same everyday,""Smart kid," Brooklyn remarked, jumping up onto the platform in a similar fashion and sitting beside him. "I ask because I'm your friend. I want to know what you do in school. Plus, Ms. Blanchard's a good teacher. Well, in my experience with homeschool,""Thanks, best friend," Henry smiled. He didn't have many friends in school and having spent a lot of time with Brooklyn, she became his best friend and he became hers. "Speaking of Ms. Blanchard, she was the one who gave me this book earlier during our break. I'm not exactly sure, but I think she's in the story,""Really?" Brooklyn raised a brow. "How so?""Trust me on this," He said, opening the book and flipping through the pages. He stopped at an image of a newly-wed couple holding onto each other tightly. "This is Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding. I have a feeling this," He pointed at the bride, "...is Ms. Blanchard,""She does look like a princess," Brooklyn remarked."No," Henry said. "I meant this is actually her,"The teenager simply narrowed her eyes at the picture, then stared at Henry with a blank expression, not knowing where he was getting to.

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FAIRYTALES WERE STORIES that joined the likes of fables and legends. They were bedtime stories for children that had elements of fantasy, but they held lessons, morals, and themes that were meant to guide them through real life.They weren't meant to be taken literally.The frustration of that misunderstanding was poured into an arrow, which flew swiftly into the center of an improvised target drawn with chalk on a tree. It joined the rest of its brothers except it had split the first arrow.The shooter, Brooklyn, stalked over to the tree and pulled out her arrows, throwing the split one away. The bow was the same one her father had first made for her and one of the few things she took with her when she ran away. She could replace it and make another one, but it held sentimental value.She sat down on a nearby stump as she took out her knife, sharpening her arrows before returning them to her quiver.It had been two weeks since Henry received his book of fairytales from Mary-Margaret. Surprisingly, the young boy was even more attached to this classic, leather-bound book than he was with his monthly comic book issues. He brought it with him to school every day, to Granny's when he'd eat dinner with Brooklyn, and they'd read it when his babysitter would sleepover at his house.Somehow, Henry was convinced that Storybrooke was a twisted version of his storybook. Brooklyn admitted it sounded rather poetic, but Frog Princes didn't exist, and neither did Magic Carpets or Fairy Godmothers.That didn't stop her from listening to his imagination, and the gist of it was that everyone in town was a certain character in the story. His mother Regina was the Evil Queen, who cast the Dark Curse that brought everyone here with no memory of their past lives.Brooklyn simply found it very imaginative of him and chose to be supportive of his creativity, but the boy came to her that morning with the new-found determination to prove his ideas true.The teenager was working her shift in Granny's like any other morning. It was the same faces and the same routine, but there was always one person and only one person who never had the same routine—Henry Mills.
That morning, he ran into Granny's with a determined look on his face and the fairytale book in his hands. Brooklyn glanced at the clock as he sat down at the booth nearest the door, and she approached him worriedly.

"Henry, aren't you supposed to be in school?" She asked the boy. "You're going to be late,"

"I'll be quick, I promise," He told her, earning him a doubtful look from Brooklyn. "I just have to show you something!"

"What's so important?" Brooklyn asked, and Henry opened his book to a bookmarked page with an image of a man carrying an infant. The blanket had

Emma

embroidered on it in violet script.

"You remember Prince Charming, right?" Henry asked her.

"Yeah," Brooklyn said. "Snow White's Prince Charming?"

Henry nodded and corrected her, "

Mary-Margaret's

Prince Charming,"

The teenager mouthed a prolonged "okay" in response and he continued, "This is their daughter, Emma, who also turns out to be my birth mother,"

Brooklyn felt her eyebrows scrunch up at his sudden conclusion, asking, "And how do you know that?"

"Just trust me, I know," Henry reassured her, but it wasn't exactly working. "That's why we have to go look for her,"

"

Look

for her, Henry?" Brooklyn repeated. "Kiddo, where would she be?"

"I'll tell you after school, but the book says she's the savior who's going to break the curse," Henry said. He suddenly looked up and Brooklyn followed his gaze to the clock. "I gotta go. See you later, Brooke!"

Brooklyn reached for his arm as he stood up. "Henry...,"

"I'll explain later, I promise," He said. He saw Ruby walking behind Brooklyn and he said. "Bye, Red!"

Brooklyn let go of his arm and let him leave the diner, looking back at Ruby with a confused look.

"What was that all about?" Ruby asked.

Brooklyn sighed and said, "If I knew, I would tell you,"
The knife was thrown a few feet away, and it let out a thud as it hit the target's center.Brooklyn groaned in frustration as she pulled her knife out of the tree, placing it back in its leather case.She couldn't take the whole morning conversation out of her head, and she couldn't tell whether Henry was being serious about his whole plan. The fact that she wasn't picking him up from school that day frustrated her even more.Brooklyn wasn't picking Henry up from school that afternoon, but as though her prayers had been answered, Regina called her and asked her to pick Henry up from his therapy session instead. Apparently, the mayor had an important meeting that she couldn't miss, so the teenager had until eight that evening to spend time with Henry.She was now outside Doctor Hopper's office, knocking on the door briefly. Henry's therapy sessions started since Regina sensed her son's loneliness, although Henry had already been going to Brooklyn for comfort and company. When he got the book, it broke her when he told her it confirmed his thoughts on his mom being evil.The door swung open, and Brooklyn was greeted by Archibald Hopper's delightful grin."Hey, Brooklyn!" He said. "I'm kind of busy with a patient right now, but I can get back to you later,"Henry heard Brooklyn's name and peeked out from the back, waving at her, "Hey Brooke!"The teenager waved back at him before facing Archie again, saying, "Oh no, it's fine. I'm just here for Henry. Is it okay if I stay during the session?"Archie smiled at her, knowing she and Henry were inseparable. Henry only started opening up to him when Brooklyn was around, so he trusted her to stay even during confidential sessions. "Sure, of course. That'll be great!"Archie opened the door wider and motioned for the teenager to come in. Pongo immediately jumped for her as she took a seat next to Henry. Archie sat back down across the two as he continued where he left off."So, um... Henry... About the book, why do you think it connects directly to our town?"Henry shrugged and said, "I don't know, Archie, it just does. I mean, most people that I've seen here match the book, along with what they do here,""Can you give an example?" Archie asked."You," Henry blurted his answer out right away, that Archie leaned back in surprise. Brooklyn tried to suppress a laugh at the doctor's reaction and ended up coming out as a weird cough."Okay...," Archie slowly nodded. "How am I in the story?""Well, for starters, you're Jiminy Cricket," Henry answered. "And everyone knows that Jiminy Cricket is a conscience. You're a therapist. You give people advice when they feel troubled."Archie nodded, following his train of thought, and said, "How about Brooklyn? Do you think she's like someone in the book too?"Brooklyn looked at Henry expectantly as he thought of an answer. "Um... I think I saw one here," He took out his storybook fro his bag and flipped through the pages, eyes lighting up when he found what he was looking for.The page showed an image of an archer. A hood hung over her head and a mask covered her features. "Here. This is Brooklyn,""Who do you think she is?" Archie asked him, and Henry simply stated, "Brooklyn,""Henry," The teenager spoke up. "I think what Archie meant was which character you think I am,""That's the thing," Henry said. "There's a character here named Brooklyn Jones. She goes by The Legend,""Alright, so how is Brooklyn related to the character in the story?""They're exactly the same person," Henry answered. "She is literally Brooklyn Jones. She's from this world. The Legend was just her persona, so I'm guessing that's why only these storybook memories were taken away,"Archie nodded while Brooklyn zoned out. She was suddenly sucked into a vision of some sort.Brooklyn was running deeper into the forest and she heard shouts behind her. The teenager figured she was running away from a group of men. Gunshots were suddenly heard and she felt her alter ego ignore them. The whole vision stopped when Brooklyn felt her alter ego gasp."Okay, that's it for today Henry,"Brooklyn snapped out of her thoughts when Archie closed his file folder.Henry stood up and gathered his things, Brooklyn following him as Archie led them to the door. "See you both tomorrow,"The two smiled and thank him, and once they were both out of the office, Brooklyn spoke, "So... interesting comparisons to the book. Was that connected to this morning, calling Ruby 'Red' earlier?"Henry pretended to think for a moment and hummed, "Kind of, yeah,"Brooklyn grinned and ruffled his hair, asking, "Mind explaining this morning over dinner at Granny's?"The boy immediately perked up. "Definitely. I've got all the details in my backpack.At that moment, all Brooklyn could do was brace herself on how to handle this situation as best as she can for him."A-are you... Wh-what do you..." Brooklyn fumbled for the proper words until it clicked. "Are you serious?! Say you got the name and contact information right, but Boston's a four-hour drive from here. You'd be lucky not to get caught,"Henry had just explained to her his fully-laid-out plan on finding Emma. Using a website that was able to track down his birth mother, he found some information that convinced him that this Emma was the same Emma from his fairy tale book."We can do this, Brooklyn," He prompted. "I know you won't let me do this alone, so you can come with me to look for Emma, and somehow I can bring her back here with us,"The teenager could only sigh. The situation felt impossible: Henry was a child who wanted to see his real mother and take this shot at finding his family. Brooklyn practically saw the hope in his eyes.Brooklyn sipped her coffee in front of her as she weighed every aspect of it, and she couldn't even believe herself when she came to her decision."I'll do it," Henry's eyes nearly bulged out. Was she letting him do this? "But your mom's going to kill me when she finds out you skipped school,"Henry laughed and shot his arms up. "YES! Yes, thank you, thank you!" He jumped out of his seat and hugged Brooklyn tightly on the other side of the table.Brooklyn laughed as she hugged in back. "Alright, calm down, kiddo. We have an hour and a half left, so we gotta finish planning,"Henry grinned. "Thanks, Brooke,"An hour and a half later, the 10-year-old and his babysitter were walking home. The plan was relatively full-proof, most of the execution leaning on Brooklyn obviously."We should name our mission, you know. It'll be fun," Henry suggested as Brooklyn opened the gate to the Mills' grandeur home."What name do you want?" The brunette asked him, speaking over the creak of the iron gate.Henry seemed to think for a moment, the two walking across the lawn."We're being sneaky," The boy uttered. "So... Operation Python,""Then Operation Python it is," Brooklyn smiled, saluting the boy. "Here to report, chief,"Henry giggled at that.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Brooklyn groaned as her alarm clock blared, and she immediately slammed the snooze button without lifting her head off the pillow. The teenager had forgotten that she set it earlier than it usually does, so she got a few extra minutes of sleep.Once she finally found the energy to permanently turn the alarm off and sleep peacefully again, Brooklyn glanced at the time and the alarm's label.Brooklyn's eyes went wide and she jumped off the bed. "Shit!"The label read "Operation Python".And she was late.The teenager stuffed her backpack with whatever she found useful — money, food, a first aid kit, and knives — before grabbing a set of keys and heading out the door. Not before grabbing her favorite flight jacket, of course.Brooklyn ran down the stairs and got into her barely-used car, throwing her bag at the backIt still confused the teenager up to that day how she was able to own a car, though it was simply a small black one that was almost useless to her until this day. Starting the engine reminded her of the first time Mary-Margaret was in a car with her and couldn't keep her eyes open the whole drive.Brooklyn then proceeded to make a quick stop at Granny's, knowing that she needed help before she headed out with Henry.The brunette walked into the diner, and Ruby smirked upon noticing her use of her car. "Ooh fancy ride there, Brooke. Didn't think you'd bring that out anymore,"Brooklyn simply gave her a look that told Ruby to be serious as she sat on one of the stools. "Ruby,""I thought you had some special business with Henry," She said as she leans on the counter."Yeah, about that business," Brooklyn started, trying to think of the best way to explain what she and Henry were about to do. "Henry wants to find his birth mother and she happens to be out of town. I'm helping him out in—,"Ruby cut her off, saying, "Wait, you two are going out of Storybrooke?" Brooklyn nodded. "And what do I have to do with this?""I need you to cover for us," Brooklyn answered. "Regina has no idea we're doing this, and the minute she finds out Henry's gone, she's going to Graham. I think you and I both know how she's going to blow up,""That," Ruby pointed out, a smile making its way to her face. "I can agree on. How far out are you going?""Boston," Brooklyn stated. Ruby's brows raised in surprise. "I know it's a lot, Ru, but—,"Ruby shook her head immediately. "No, no, no, it's fine. I can cover for you both," She turned around and poured coffee into a cup. "I know you'll come back unharmed. That's just... really, really far,"Brooklyn sighed, thinking about the four-hour drive they were going to push through with. "Tell me about it,""Here," Ruby slid two travel cups in front of Brooklyn—one had coffee while the other held hot cocoa with cinnamon. Before Brooklyn could even speak, Ruby said, "You'll both need it. On the house,""Thanks, Ruby, really," The brunette said, taking the two cups, and she stood up."No problem, Brooke," She smiled as the teenager left the diner. "Good luck!"Brooklyn sighed in relief as she pulled up beside the school and spotted the school bus. She wasn't late. She saw Henry run out of the bus then darted towards her car the second he caught sight of it.Henry excitedly opened shotgun and the teenager asked, "You got everything you need?""Yup," Henry replies, popping the p. "Water, first-aid, money, the info from the website and the book, of course,"He spoke with such enthusiasm it made Brooklyn chuckle."Well then," She said, imitating his energy with a grin, and pulled out to the driveway. "Operation Python is on!"The boy laughed and Brooklyn smirked. "Oh, come on! You know I'm one amazing actress,","No way!" Henry stuck his tongue out which widened Brooklyn's grin. "Okay... Whatever floats your boat,"Brooklyn then motioned to the two travel cups resting on the cup holders and said, "I got hot cocoa with cinnamon for you over there. Breakfast is in my backpack,"Henry perked up at the mention of food and immediately reached for the bag."So, your mom thinks you're in school?" Brooklyn asked a question, but it sounded more like a statement."She has no idea," Henry replied.A small smirk slid on his face, making the teenager shake her head in disbelief. "I think you've been spending too much time together, kiddo. We're going to be in so much trouble,"The ride was comfortably silent for a few minutes as Henry munched on breakfast, when he said, "You know, nobody's allowed to leave town,"This made Brooklyn scrunch her brows up in confusion. "But we just did. We passed the Leaving Storybrooke sign earlier," The teenager was adding pressure to the gas at the sight of an empty road, hoping to get to Boston earlier."That's because we were born here," Henry clarified. "Everyone else came from the Enchanted Forest, so leaving the town will make bad things happen,"Brooklyn could only nod and follow along to what he was saying, not knowing whether to believe or doubt him.When the duo reached Boston, Henry was fast asleep on the passenger seat as Brooklyn parked the car near a subway station.She had no idea how to get around Boston and the last thing she wanted was to get lost with Henry. She lightly nudged the boy and said, "We're here, kid,"He blinks a few times, before looking at the teenager. "So what now?"The girl inhaled deeply, trying to come up with a plan. "You have the address?" The boy nodded and she continued, "We'll find a map somewhere down in this station, and we'll find our way to Emma,"Henry nodded again and the two got out of the car, slinging their bags over their shoulders as the teenager muttered, "The things I do for you, kid,"Brooklyn sighed in exasperation as she and Henry finally stepped out of the station."That was the last time we're squeezing ourselves in a train," She told herself.The two made their way to a bus station and stood patiently when Henry suddenly tugged Brooklyn's arm. "Brooke, I got it from here,"Brooklyn was confused and pulled him aside for a moment. "What do you mean you got it from here?""You could leave," Henry explained, but he was cut off by Brooklyn, who said, "No, Henry. I'm not just leaving you here in Boston alone,"Henry tried reasoning with her and said, "You've got four hours back, Brooke,""So do you,""My mom probably found out I'm gone already," Henry reasoned again, but Brooklyn reassured him and squatted down to his level. "I've got Ruby to cover for us back in Storybrooke. She knows we're here,"Henry wasn't giving up."If Emma sees you, she might not want to come home with me,""You don't know that,""I just...," Henry paused, finding his words. "I really want to do this. I want her to come home,"His tone was desperate, making Brooklyn close her eyes and breathe for a second. "I can't believe I'm doing this," She thought."Okay...," She sighed, and Henry's eyes widen, surprised that he convinced his friend. "Do you know how to get there?""Fifth stop with the bus, then a taxi straight to the building," He repeated the directions the teenager had told her back in the train.Brooklyn nodded and said, "Right. Stay low as best as you can. Do you have my number?"Henry nodded reassuringly and said, "You'll be the first one I'll call if anything goes wrong," He grinned at her gratefully. "Thanks, Brooke,".The girl gave him a half-smile in return, standing up. "I've got no other choice, do I?""You won't regret this," He encouraged and hugged her tight."I better not, kiddo,"

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

BROOKLYN WAS TIRED.

The whole ride back to Storybrooke, she was reasoning with herself why it was better to leave Henry alone in Boston. She couldn't change her mind even if she wanted to; she was already halfway through the four-hour drive back.When she finally arrived in the small town she called her home for the past years, she quietly returned to her apartment. She dropped her bag beside her bed and passed out immediately, not even bothering to change out of her clothes.
"Come on, Brooklyn!" The teenager heard a voice behind her. "I've got something to show you,"

Brooklyn sat up to face the owner of the voice. She couldn't make out his face, but somehow she knew he was excited as she said, "Since when do you not?"

"You'll like this one, love," He answered her, lacing his fingers with hers.

Brooklyn tried to ignore the sparks as she groaned in response, saying, "This better be worth those extra minutes of sleep"

"You dunked a bucket of water on me once, love," The boy told her. It was then Brooklyn noticed the English accent he had. "I believe it's only fair,"

"You overslept," Brooklyn shot back at him, feeling herself giggle. "Felix wasn't having it. I wanted to punch his face to shut his complaining,"

"Shut up," The boy grumbled, making Brooklyn laugh at him as he pulled her forward.
She suddenly heard an unfamiliar sound from a distance, and Brooklyn groggily opened her eyes, waking up from the dream only to pull the blanket over her head again at the sight of sunlight.The dream was different that night. It wasn't the voices anymore.Brooklyn groaned, trying to go back to sleep until she realized the sound was her phone ringing from inside her bag. The teenager managed to drag herself out of bed and answer her phone.She didn't even have time to speak as Regina immediately asked, "Brooklyn, is Henry with you?"Brooklyn's eyes were wide awake at the mention of Henry's name. "No, he's not. Isn't he supposed to be at school?" The teenager was suddenly worried, remembering that she didn't even check if Henry got back from Boston."His school bag's still in his room," Regina told her, and Brooklyn bit her lip nervously."I'll check with Graham," Brooklyn said, and Regina replied, "I'll be right there,"The two hang up immediately and Brooklyn muttered to herself, hitting her head with her hand, "I knew I was going to regret this,"The teenager changed her clothes and tied her hair up before heading out to the sheriff's station."Graham!" Brooklyn yelled, entering the sheriff's station like it was nothing. She's been in there enough to annoy the sheriff regularly."Jordan," The said man sighed, recognizing the teenager's voice. He turned around from his conversation with a blonde woman to face her. "Who's the poor resident you bothered today?""It's not about me today, Graham. It's Henry," The teenager rolled her eyes at him. The blonde woman perked up at the mention of the boy. "He's missing,""Again?" Graham muttered to himself, reminding both of them about yesterday.Just then, Regina came into the office crying for help like a damsel in distress, as Brooklyn described it to herself."Graham, Henry's run away again, we have to...," Regina halted at the sight of the blonde woman, suddenly eyeing her sharply as she walked towards her jail cell. "What is she doing here? Do you know where he is?""Lady, I haven't seen him since I dropped him at your house," The blonde woman told her.Brooklyn stepped in and asked, "So he got home last night?""Yes," Regina answered for the blonde. Brooklyn sighed in relief and realized Regina didn't question her further. Ruby must've made up a really good excuse. "He wasn't in his room this morning,""Did you try his friends?" The blonde woman asked.Regina responded by gesturing to the teenager beside her. "Brooklyn, but aside from her, he doesn't really have any. He's kind of a loner,"The blonde woman looked down pitifully and muttered, "Every kid has friends," She paused before saying, "Did you check his computer? If he was close to someone, he'd be emailing them,"Regina narrowed her eyes, skeptical at the woman. "And you know this how?"Brooklyn simply raised a brow as the blonde replied, "Finding people's what I do. Here's an idea," She leaned her head against the cell's bars as she said. "How 'bout you guys let me out, and I'll help you find him,"Regina started Henry's computer as Graham and the new woman waited patiently. Meanwhile, Brooklyn was looking around Henry's room, having memorized every inch of it."Smart kid. Cleared his inbox," The blonde uttered before taking a set of keys that had a USB attached to it. "I'm smart too, a little hard disk recovery utility I like to use,"Brooklyn ignored the adults, looking through Henry's room — the same room she and the little boy had been hanging around for years. The teenager easily recognized the many comic books that he reads, most of which were about Iron Man and the Avengers, and several of their favorite photos together. The most recent one was framed on his nightstand — they were at Granny's with sundaes on the table as Brooklyn smiled at the camera while Henry held it in front of them.The teenager's attention was caught by the blonde woman saying, "There's a receipt for a website—whosyourmomma.org."Regina and Brooklyn both walked over to the computer curiously as the woman recovers an email. "It's expensive. He has a credit card?"Brooklyn eyes widened upon seeing the amount flashed on the screen as Regina stated, "He's ten,""Well, he used one," Emma told her. "Let's pull up a transaction record. Mary-Margaret Blanchard. Who's Mary-Margaret Blanchard?"Brooklyn had a shocked look on her face as she answered, "Henry's teacher,"Brooklyn, Regina and the blonde woman headed to Henry's school, where Mary-Margaret taught. The recess bell rang, so Brooklyn and the blonde step aside to let the students file out of their classrooms. Regina, however, impatiently pushed past them and into Mary-Margaret's classroom.The teacher immediately took notice of her and said, "Ms. Mills, what are you doing here?""Where's my son?" Regina demanded, which confused Mary-Margaret."Henry..., I assumed he was home sick with you,"Brooklyn and the blonde entered the classroom just as Regina said, "You think I'd be here if he was? Did you give him your credit card so he can find her?"The woman gestured towards the blonde, and Mary-Margaret looked at her in confusion, asking, "I'm sorry, who are you?"The woman paused, not exactly knowing how to answer the question. "I'm..., I'm his...,"Regina interrupted her impatiently with, "The woman who gave him up for adoption,"Brooklyn and Mary-Margaret shared a look, now knowing who the blonde woman was.The teacher then checked her bag and Brooklyn noticed the sincerely shocked look as the blonde woman said, "You don't know anything about this, do you?"Mary-Margaret pulled out her wallet and opened it to find her card missing, shaking her head. "No, unfortunately not. Clever boy. I should never have given him that book,"Regina burst, exclaiming, "What in the hell is this book I keep hearing about?"It was then Brooklyn realized Regina had no idea about Henry's storybook despite the said boy carrying it wherever he went."Just some old stories I gave him," Mary-Margaret answered calmly. "As you well know, Henry is a special boy: so smart, so creative," She paused, getting serious. "And as you might be aware, lonely. He needed it,""What he needs is a dose of reality," Regina clarified with a tone. "This is a waste of time,"She turned on her heel and stalked out of the classroom, knocking over the stack of books beside Brooklyn as the mayor addressed the blonde woman, "Have a nice trip back to Boston,"Brooklyn could only stare wide-eyed at Regina before giving Mary-Margaret a look that said, "I'm going to hit her".The woman shook her head slightly at the teenager as if to say, "Not right now,".Meanwhile, the blonde woman bent down and started picking up the books, Mary-Margaret and Brooklyn followed as she said, "Sorry to bother you,"Mary-Margaret looked at her. "No it's...," She suddenly paused, staring at Emma for a second."It's okay. I fear this is partially my fault,"Brooklyn shook her head and confessed, "It's kind of my fault too. I took him to Boston yesterday—kick-started his whole plan,"They all stood up and Mary-Margaret had a look of realization while the blonde had one of shock, thinking, "These two kids went all the way to Boston by themselves?""So is that where you two disappeared off to yesterday?" Mary-Margaret asked.The brunette shrugged. "Wasn't so sure of it at first, but I'm starting to enjoy it. Never seen her so infuriated," She smirked, referring to Regina.Mary-Margaret sighed at the teenager's amusement with Regina when the blonde woman spoke up, asking the teacher, "How's the book supposed to help?""What do you think these stories are for?" The dark-haired woman replied with another question. "The classics? There's a reason we all know them. They're a way for us to deal with our world. A world that doesn't always make sense. See, Henry hasn't had the easiest life,"The three walked out of the classroom as the blonde said, "Yeah, she's kind of a hard-ass,"Brooklyn perked up in agreement, which earned her a look from Mary-Margaret. "Agreed, but it's more than just her," The teenager told Henry's birth mother. "He's just like any orphaned or adopted child out there. He constantly yearns for the feeling of family and love,"Mary-Margaret added, saying, "He wrestles with that most basic question they would all inevitably face: why would anyone give me away?"The woman froze with a look on her face, taken aback by the question. Mary-Margaret then snapped out of it, realizing her choice of words. "I am so sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean in any way to judge you...,""It's okay," She whispered.Mary-Margaret took the blonde's hands in hers and said, "Look, I gave the book to him because I wanted Henry to have the most important thing anyone can have," The blonde woman and Brooklyn looked at her in anticipation. "Hope. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing,"Brooklyn took a second to take it in, somehow affected by the advice.Emma paused "You know where he is, don't you,""You might want to check his castle,"The blonde woman was confused, so Brooklyn spoke up to clarify, "It's the wooden playground by the shore," Emma thanked the two and left to find her son.When she was gone, Mary-Margaret then turned to Brooklyn with a question. "Mind telling me about your adventure yesterday?"The teenager raised both hands in surrender. "Hey, I had no idea about the credit card thing! I swear,"

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

AS THE CURSE'S

cloud began blanketing the forest, Brooklyn was seen racing through the trees, whipping the reins in an attempt to outrun it.  As she got closer, she could hear the castle's bells ringing and Grumpy repeatedly yelling, "THE CURSE — IT'S HERE!"

The archer immediately jumped off her horse upon reaching the castle, and she ran inside the castle to be greeted by three black knights.

Brooklyn quickly pulled out her sword and stabbed the first knight in the stomach, kicking him out of her way. She proceeded to deflect the second knight's blow from his own sword and pushed back with a grunt.

The guard stumbled back for a second, so she slashed him on the chest before dealing with the last knight. Brooklyn slid on her knees as the knight attempted to swing his sword at her and her hood fell off in the process. When she stood back up behind him, she thrust her own blade into his back, killing him immediately.

Brooklyn smirked with an evil glint in her eyes as she sheathed her sword and ran straight for the hallways where she knew Snow and Charming would be.

Meanwhile, Prince Charming was cautiously sprinting through the hallways with his infant in one hand and his sword in the other when he nearly ran into someone.

He held his sword up defensively, but it wasn't needed when he realized who it was. "Brooklyn?"

The archer smirked in response and saw the infant in his arms. "Charming. Congratulations,"

"Thanks," He nodded, then urgently added. "We need to get to the wardrobe. It's at the end of the hallway to the left,"

Brooklyn asked no questions as she ran with Charming, following his directions. At the end of the hall, the two saw two more black knights finish off the castle guards.

The brunette unsheathed her sword once more, telling the prince, "I got this. Protect the baby,"

She ran ahead of him, alerting the knights of her presence, and immediately kicked one of them on his crotch, stabbing him on the chest when he bent down in pain.

The other knight ran for Charming and swung his sword at him, only to be deflected by the prince. The knight tried thrusting his sword again and Charming swerved to the side- the blade making a cut on his shoulder instead and causing him to groan in pain.

Brooklyn turned at the prince's grunt and quickly deflected the next blow from the knight, successfully protecting the princess - the sword just inches away from her face.

The brunette pushed the knight back with her sword and called at Charming, "Go!

GO!

"

The prince darted for the door, kicking it down as Brooklyn finished off the knight. She sliced his throat with her sword and left him to bleed out. She ran in the nursery to see Charming kiss his daughter, whispering, "Find us,"

Charming secured the wardrobe shut when Brooklyn sensed someone behind her. The archer turned sharply to face another pair of black knights and she swung her sword at the right one, the left one occupying himself with the prince.

Brooklyn quickly killed the knight, but when she turned to her side, she saw Charming get stabbed on the stomach and started losing consciousness.

"CHARMING!"
The teenager awoke with a start, rubbing her face with her hands as she tried to calm her racing heart.She had no idea where the dream came from or what triggered it. It was different than the dream she'd have every night—the one with the voices telling her to start over, telling her he'd be so proud of her.Sighing, Brooklyn got up from her bed and started her day."You know, someone new came in Bed & Breakfast yesterday," Ruby told Brooklyn during their shift.The teenager raised her eyebrows as she refilled the coffee pot. "Who?""Never seen her before, but Mr. Gold was fascinated with her name," Ruby remarked, and Brooklyn immediately scrunched her face up at the mention of the pawnbroker."Gold? Why was he there?"Ruby shrugged and stated, "Taxes,"Brooklyn seemed satisfied with the answer and asked, "So who's the new customer?"Ruby paused, trying to remember. "Emma Swan, I think,"As if on cue, the blonde woman from yesterday came into Granny's and both of their heads turn at the sound of the bell.Ruby nodded in her direction, saying, "That's her,"Brooklyn's eyes widened as she put the pieces together."You know her?" Ruby asked the teenager, noticing the look on her face."She's Henry's birth mom," Brooklyn answered, and it was Ruby's turn to put the pieces together.Ruby watched Emma as she took a seat on one of the stools, and she leaned in to ask Brooklyn, "She's the one who broke the sign one night, isn't she?""That's probably her way of making an impression," Brooklyn shrugged. "Hey, I'm gonna go to the school for a while — surprise Mary-Margaret for a little bit,"Ruby turned to face her friend. "And why would you do that?""Because... why not?" Brooklyn proceeded to pour a cup of coffee-to-go for Mary-Margaret."You're going to get in trouble if you're going to be skipping shifts a lot now," Ruby told her, raising an eyebrow."I'm guessing it's going to happen a lot, Ru," Brooklyn replied. "Madame Mayor is not enjoying the new visitor," She made her way around the counter and headed for the door, but she stopped when she spotted Henry at a nearby table."Hey, Henry!" She said, ruffling his hair. "Please don't tell me you're planning to skip school again,"Henry shook his head and said, "I'm not," Brooklyn gave him a disbelieving look and Henry insisted, "Pinky promise! I'm just trying to get closer to Emma. Maybe get her to walk me to school,"Brooklyn looked over at the said woman and nodded, "Okay, if you need anything, just ask Ruby. Don't be late!"She then left the diner and Henry did what she said, going over to Ruby and asking, "Can you make hot cocoa with cinnamon for that woman right there?"Brooklyn casually strolled to the school, holding a cup of coffee in her hand. While she made it sound like an excuse to Ruby, Brooklyn had thought of surprising Mary-Margaret with it the previous night.A little apology gift for the credit card fiasco she found out about.Mary-Margaret had caught sight of the teenager as she was greeting the kids outside the school, and she squinted, not believing it was actually Brooklyn walking towards her."I should've gotten you glasses instead," Brooklyn smirked as she approached the woman.Mary-Margaret gave her a look and said, "I just didn't think it was actually you. Aren't you supposed to be at work?"At that, Brooklyn handed her the cup of coffee, smirking, "Am I not allowed to surprise my favorite teacher?" She paused before she added, "Well, you were my only teacher, but never mind that,"Mary-Margaret laughed, taking the cup from the teenager. "Thank you, Brooke. I'll pay you later —,"She was cut off by the girl who said, "No, no, it's on me. A little apology gift for the credit card thing. I didn't know Henry did that, but I still feel bad about it,"The dark-haired woman suddenly looked reluctant and said, "Oh, don't worry about it. You didn't have to,"She was about to return the coffee, but Brooklyn said, "Take it. You'll need it, and come on, I walked for you,"Mary-Margaret smiled and said, "Well, thank you, Brooke. Really,"The two then heard a familiar boy yell, "Why else would you be here?"They both turned around and saw Henry run towards the school. He spotted Brooklyn in his line of sight and he ran over to her."Hey, Brooke!" Henry waved.The teenager then noticed the huge grin on his face as she waved back, "Hey Henry!"The boy tackled her in a sudden hug, and Brooklyn chuckled, "Come on, kiddo, you're gonna be late,"She lightly pushed him towards the school and he ran off. Brooklyn watched as he did so before turning around to see Emma."So he did get her to walk him to school," She thought."It's good to see his smile back," She told the blonde woman. "Name's Brooklyn, by the way. I babysit Henry regularly,"Emma nodded and introduced herself. "Emma, but I didn't do anything to him or for him,""You stayed," Mary-Margaret pointed out. "So does the Mayor know you're still here?""Oh, she knows," Emma emphasized. "What's her deal? She's not a great people person, how did she get elected?""She's been Mayor as long as I can remember. No one's ever been brave enough to run against her. She inspires quite a bit of... well, fear. I'm afraid I only made that worse by giving Henry that book and now he thinks she's the Evil Queen," Mary-Margaret replied."The book's not wrong," Brooklyn uttered, causing Mary-Margaret to shoot her a look.She defended herself, saying, "What? Physical similarities; she glares too often. Surprised she doesn't have any wrinkles yet,"Emma's face lit up in agreement and asked the teacher, "Who does he think you are?"Mary-Margaret chuckled, saying, "It's silly,"Emma laughed lightly. "I just got five minutes of silly. Lay it on me,"Mary-Margaret then answered, "Snow White," and Emma's face was stunned for a second.The school bell suddenly rang behind them and Brooklyn remembered that she had to be back at Granny's."Hey, I got to go," She told the two women. "Nice seeing you again, Emma,""Wait," The blonde woman stopped Brooklyn as she started walking away. "Can I ask you a favor?"The teenager shrugged despite being surprised by Emma's gesture. "Depends,""Regina mentioned Henry's in therapy. Do you know where I can find the doctor?"When Brooklyn made it back to the diner, she ended up staying an extra hour for the lunch rush. She knew how much it stressed Granny out, so she helped out in exchange for the shifts she missed, and the shifts she knew she'd be missing in the future.Brooklyn had just finished cleaning up her last table when her phone started ringing in her back pocket.She answered it and held the phone to her ear. "Mary-Margaret, what's up?""You might want to meet Henry and me in the sheriff's station," The woman said through the line.Brooklyn furrowed her eyebrows as she asked, "Why? What happened at the sheriff's station?"The mention of sheriff's station caught Ruby's attention as Mary-Margaret replied, "Regina told Henry earlier that Emma's been arrested. He wants me to bail her out,""What did she do this time?" Brooklyn sighed."I'm not exactly sure. Henry didn't tell me much," Mary-Margaret said."Well, I'll be there in a bit," Brooklyn said before hanging up.The brunette returned the rag she had been using to clean tables as Ruby asked her, "What was that about?""It's Emma. Second day in Storybrooke, second case of trouble," She told her friend. "Just a few more and she can take my title as Storybrooke troublemaker,"Brooklyn met up with Mary-Margaret and Henry outside the Police Department and the boy grabbed onto her hand as they walked in."What happened with Emma?" Brooklyn asked.Henry looked up at her and said, "My mom says she was in a fight with Archie, but I don't believe that,""Huh," was all she could say in front of the little boy, shrugging.The three reached the main office where Graham was taking mugshots of Emma and Henry let go of his friend's hand, running in. "Hey!"The sheriff turned around, momentarily confused before taking notice of the boy. "Henry! Henry, what are you doing here?""His mother told him what happened," Mary-Margaret told him.Emma rolled her eyes from where she stood and said, "Of course she did!" She then turned to Henry. "Henry, I don't know what she said-,"Henry cut her off, exclaiming, "You're a genius!""What?" Emma asked, voicing everyone's thoughts in the room as Graham, Mary-Margaret, and Brooklyn exchanged confused glances."I know what you were up to," Henry told her, making Emma more confused. "You were gathering Intel... For Operation Cobra,"Brooklyn raised an eyebrow, leaning against the wall as Graham spoke. "I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost.""It's need-to-know, Sheriff," Henry stated. "And all you need to know is that Ms. Blanchard's gonna bail her out."Brooklyn scrunched up her eyebrows as all eyes landed on Mary-Margaret."You are?" Emma clarified. "Why?"Mary-Margaret paused before saying, "I...uh... trust you.""Well. if you could un-cuff me," Emma extended her arms out towards Graham, catching his attention. "I have something to do."After bailing Henry's birth mother out, Brooklyn and Henry spent time together by walking around town. The two had decided to head to Granny's for a snack when Brooklyn's phone buzzed.The teenager took her phone out and Henry stood on his toes as he asked, "Who's that from?""Your mom," Brooklyn answered. "She said she wants you to come earlier to her office so you two can have an early dinner before you head to your session with Archie,"Henry's mood noticeably depleted as he stopped walking. Brooklyn sighed, bending down to his level and said, "Hey, your mom's trying her best, kiddo. She's just... having a hard time adjusting to having someone else in your life,""No, she's not," Henry contradicted. "She's trying to push the Savior away so she wouldn't break the curse,"The teenager put her hand on the boy's arm. "You know that's not all. She's trying her best to show you she loves you. You're lucky to have a mom like her," Brooklyn straightened herself and offered Henry her hand. "Come on, let's get to the town hall,"Henry held her hand and obediently walked with her, deciding to drop the topic.Once they were in the town hall, Henry looked up at his babysitter to say something, but he completely forgot about it when he caught sight of the necklace hanging on her neck. "Brooke, where'd you get your necklace?"The teenager held her necklace in her hand instinctively and said, "My dad gave it to me when I was little,""Can I see it?" Henry asked her, and Brooklyn smiled, saying, "Sure!"She stopped to unclasp the necklace and gave it to Henry. The boy grinned as he looked at the tag's details in awe."It's pretty neat, huh?" Brooklyn remarked, noticing his face."Yeah," Henry nodded and handed her necklace back. "Do you know where your dad got it?""He said he had it since he was little. Told me it was a family heirloom," She answered. Henry's face lit up, which made Brooklyn ask, "Why?"The boy continued to grin as he answered, "It says The Legend,""That was probably her callsign," Brooklyn told him. "It says whoever owned that first was part of the Air Force. I was named after her,""And you just happened to inherit it?" Henry asked. "The Legend?"She knew what he was pushing for. The Legend was a character in his book, an archer called Brooklyn Jones. That was who he was telling her she was, aside from the fact that she shared a name with the character.They continued walking towards Regina's office and Brooklyn heard a conversation through the open door. This time, she placed a finger to her lips to tell Henry to keep quiet, and the boy obeyed immediately as they listened.
"...think he's troubled?"

"Well.... in therapy....couple pages...of...notes.... had me arrested...,"
It didn't take Brooklyn long to recognize Regina and Emma's voices, and that the two women were talking about Henry. The teenager looked down at the said boy to see his eyebrows scrunched up."The poor kid can't even tell the difference between fantasy and reality, and it's only getting worse,"The brunette clenched her fists as Emma started entering the minefield while Henry, being the curious boy he was, he stood in plain sight in front of the door."It's crazy,"Brooklyn's eyes widened upon hearing those two words."You think I'm crazy?" Henry spoke up, his voice cracking.This caught Emma's attention, who turned around to face him with a stunned look on her face. "Henry..."The boy didn't let her explain as he ran out of the office through the hallways. Brooklyn chased after him, calling his name, but not before she saw the smirk plastered on Regina's face.Later that night, Brooklyn plopped down on her bed, holding her dog tag.She was pissed, worried, and confused.Henry looked so devastated after indirectly being called crazy by Emma, his own birth mother. The ten-year-old, who was practically her little brother, didn't even want to be with her because he was so disappointed.The other thing bothering her was what Henry told her before they overheard the conversation.She read her dog tag again.
JONES, BROOKLYN NATALIE W.J.

000-00-0000 AF

B POS

THE LEGEND

The Legend.
She used to think it was the callsign this pilot, the person she was named after, had.But now... Now, it was coinciding with Henry's book.Could she really be that person?

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

HENRY STOOD UP straight in front of Brooklyn as she fixed his jacket and scarf. "You got everything you need, kiddo?"Today was Henry's class's field trip to the town's hospital, where the kids will get to experience volunteer work for the first time.Of course, Brooklyn wasn't part of his class nor was she going as Henry's companion. The teenager was helping out Mary-Margaret wrangle the kids.While the woman was acquainted with handling kids in the classroom, letting them out in another place was a different story.And when Brooklyn told Henry about this, he insisted that she bring him to the field trip because she was his best friend."Yup," He said, then he lowered his voice to a whisper. "But do we really have to go? I want to spend time with Emma, on Operation Cobra.""Cobra, aye?" Brooklyn whispered back in an accent. "What's the new mission, chief?" She added a wink at the end, making Henry smile.The boy glanced at the stairs before saying, "I'm trying to get Emma to believe in the storybook. I know she's the Savior who's going to break the curse and fight the final battle,""Mhm... Well, you'll have time for that after the field trip." Brooklyn told him, handing him his backpack.Regina had asked her to be around him more often after Emma had made it clear she was staying, so she was coming with Henry's class on their field trip."Come on, you're going to be late,"Brooklyn stood up from her chair just as Regina came down the stairs, ready for the day. She kissed Henry on his head before handing the teenager a small wad of cash. "Here's the extra payment I promised you. You'll bring him over in my office right after?"The girl saluted in response with a slight smirk on her lips. "Of course, Madame Mayor,"Regina said her goodbyes before Brooklyn and Henry headed out the door.Brooklyn took a step back as she finished helping a group of kids hang one of their banners on the wall.The kids thanked the teenager for her help, and she smiled back in response when she noticed Mary-Margaret and Henry in the ICU. She made her way inside, placing a hand on Mary-Margaret's shoulder, and asked, "Hey, everything okay in here?""Everything's fine, Brooklyn," The teacher answered.Henry was too busy looking at the unconscious man to acknowledge Brooklyn and asked Mary-Margaret again, "You sure you don't know him?""Of course I'm sure," Mary-Margaret said. "Come on, we shouldn't be in here."She escorted Henry out of the room, but Brooklyn stayed a second longer, curious at what could've made Henry so interested in John Doe before walking out.The teenager was shocked as something clicked in her mind as she noticed a scar on John Doe's chin."Why do I feel like I've met someone with a similar scar?"  She thought to herself, but she simply shrugged the thought away.
An irritated Princess Abigail sat in a white carriage, which was brought to a halt for an unknown reason, as her fiancé exited to examine something on the road.

"Worry not — it's but a fallen tree," Prince Charming told her before turning to the guards surrounding him. "Fellas, shall we?"

The men positioned themselves to lift the trunk out of the way, but as the prince went to the end of the trunk, he eyed the part of the tree that was once attached to its stump.

Unknown to him, a figure cloaked with a brown hood stood above him on another tree with a notched arrow, and that figure nodded towards the right.

A similar figure, wearing an olive-green cloak, jumped onto the royal carriage at the signal, puzzling the woman inside.

"My lord, what is it?" One of the guards asked as the royal continued to examine the broken area of the tree.

"These markings, this tree didn't fall. It's been cut," The prince said, and realization dawned on his face. "It's an ambush."

The green-clad figure formerly on the carriage quickly grabbed a leather pouch from inside, causing the princess to scream. "Guards! Stop, thief! Help me!"

Arrows flew from the trees and hit each guard on their shoulder at the sound of the princess's screams. All the guards groaned in pain as they tried to pull the arrows out of their shoulders.

The thief stole a horse and rushed off, Prince Charming not far behind. The hooded figure from the trees jumped down and mounted a horse as well.

The injured guards only watched as the third horse galloped off, and they were left to think about how to get back now that two of their horses were stolen.

The partner-thief followed Snow White across the woods but slowed down near the prince, who seemed to have been too stricken to follow the olive-cloaked figure any further.

The man narrowed his eyes at the person beneath the hood as he asked, "Who are you?"

"None of your business, but you might want to go back to your guards," The prince was shocked to hear a feminine voice.

"Have fun going wherever you need to go," The girl smirked, before whipping the reigns of the horse, following Snow White, who left a bloodied scar on the royal's chin.
"You want me to read to a coma patient?" Mary-Margaret asked in astonishment.She, Brooklyn, and Emma were around her kitchen counter sipping their own drinks. The blonde woman had just explained the plan of reading to John Doe after she had settled terms with Brooklyn on what happened in the Mayor's Office the other day."Henry thinks it will help him remember who he was," Emma explained, which made Brooklyn ask, "And, who does he think he was?"Emma looked at the teenager and answered, "Prince Charming,"Mary-Margaret registered this with a raised brow, connecting the dots. "And if I'm Snow White, he thinks me... and him...,"Brooklyn nodded along as she drank her coffee, and sighed, "He has a very active imagination...,""— Which is the point," Emma added. "I can't talk him out of his beliefs, so we need to show him. Play along, do what he says and then maybe, just maybe...,""He'll see that fairy tales are just that," Mary-Margaret nodded. "That there's no such thing as love at first sight or first kiss. He'll see reality."She took a sip of her cocoa as Emma said, "Something like that,""Well... Sadly, this plan is rather genius." Mary-Margaret agreed as Brooklyn sipped her own drink. "We get him to the truth without hurting him.""I told him that we will all meet tomorrow for breakfast at Granny's," Emma took the book from the other stool and handed it to the short-haired woman. "And you will give a full report. You're coming too," Emma addressed the brunette at the end."Of course I'll be there, lass. I work there," She answered a matter-of-factly, before pausing a moment later in shock at her choice of words."Well, I suppose I'll get ready for my date," Mary-Margaret partly sighed, taking the book."And you'll have to do all the talking," Brooklyn commented with a smirk, and the two women chuckled.There was a moment of comfortable silence, and Brooklyn's mind wandered off to why she used the word lass a minute earlier.The next morning, Brooklyn removed the apron around her waist as she sat across Henry on a table for four. She had already informed Granny of her upcoming inconsistency in showing up after Regina instructed her to stay with Henry more, so she was let out of her shift earlier.Emma then came out of the restroom wearing a new blouse Henry had given her, and Brooklyn nearly burst out laughing when she realized it was Regina's blouse."Thanks for the shirt," Emma said, taking a seat beside Brooklyn. "Hey, is this your mother's?""She'll never notice," Henry smiled. Brooklyn didn't say anything, but she already knew that the boy was wrong.A while later, Mary-Margaret came into the diner, looking rather conflicted. Henry's posture immediately straightened as she took the seat beside him.The teenager looked at the dark-haired woman in anticipation. "So?"Mary-Margaret hesitated for a moment, not entirely sure how to say it, before spitting it out. "He woke up."Emma's smile of anticipation dropped and she uttered, "What?"Henry's face lit up victoriously as he exclaimed, "I knew it!"Brooklyn's eyebrows simply shot up in shock."I mean, he didn't wake up wake up," Mary-Margaret clarified to the three, trying to calm their mixed reactions. "But he grabbed my hand,""He's remembering!" Henry said happily.Emma asked for an explanation, saying, "What did the doctor say?""That I imagined it, but I'm not crazy. I know it happened." Mary-Margaret replied."We have to go back," Henry insisted. "You have to read to him again,"His teacher seemed to think about it for a second before saying, "Let's go."Emma and Brooklyn watched disbelievingly as the two got out of their seats. "Wait, wait... What?!" They simultaneously questioned as they stood up and followed the two.Mary-Margaret stopped and turned around. "If I got through to him... if we made a connection...—"Brooklyn cut her off with a look on her face. "— You don't believe that —,"She immediately shook her head. "He's Prince Charming? Of course not. Somehow, someway, I touched him."The short-haired woman rushed out with a hopeful look as Brooklyn looked over at the blonde woman beside her, who had disbelief plastered all over her face."Oh my god, you're believing it too," The teenager mocked, mirroring the look on Emma's face.Emma shook her head at the teenager. "It's going overboard,"Henry rushed into the ward where his class's banners were still hung up and saw several doctors and nurses surrounding the ICU."You're right! He's waking up," He exclaimed at his teacher, who followed him along with Brooklyn and Emma.At the sound of his voice, Sheriff Graham turned around from his conversation with a doctor and held his hands out at Henry, preventing him from going any further. "Henry, you should stay back,"Brooklyn made her way to the ten-year-old's side as she asked, "What's going on?""Is it John Doe? Is he okay?" Mary-Margaret added worriedly."He's missing," Graham stated.Brooklyn peeked at the ICU, and it was then that she saw Regina inside, standing by the bed that once held John Doe. The woman took notice of the four new people in the area and stormed towards them."What the hell are you doing here?" She said to Emma, giving her a pointed look. "And you-" She grabbed Henry by the wrist rather roughly. "I thought you were at the arcade. Now you're lying to me?""She's pissed, outraged, and still has no wrinkles," Brooklyn took note at how roughly she held Henry in her state."What happened to John Doe? Did someone take him?" Mary-Margaret worriedly asked the sheriff. Henry immediately grasped his friend's hand the second his mom let go of him as they watched the exchange."We don't know yet. His IVs were ripped out but there's no sign for sure there's a struggle.""What did you do?" Henry accused his mother and she gave him a look."You think I had something to do with this?" It was a question but it sounded more like a statement."Henry," Brooklyn whispered, warning him to stay down in this conversation."It is curious that the mayor is here." Emma interrupted.Regina looked up and said, "I'm here because I'm his emergency contact,""You know him?" Mary-Margaret asked."I found him." The mayor clarified. "On the side of the road years ago with no ID. I brought him here,"Dr. Whale approached the group and added, "Mayor Mills saved his life,""Will he be okay?" Mary-Margaret asked again, concerned for John Doe, while Brooklyn was more occupied with the fact Regina saved him at all."Okay?" The doctor repeated. "The man's been on feeding tubes for years on constant supervision. He needs to get back here right away or, quite honestly, okay might be a pipe dream.""Well, then let's quit yapping and start looking," Emma uncrossed her arms and began walking with a certain direction in mind."That's what we're doing? Just stay out of this, dear." Regina addressed Emma, who turned around with an equally fed-up look. "And since I clearly can't keep you away from my son, I guess I'm just going to have to keep my son away from you."Graham and Brooklyn shared an exasperated look as they watched the two mothers fight. Regina grabbed an unwilling Henry, who let go of his friend, and stalked towards the exit."Enjoy my shirt, because that's all you're getting," She told Emma. "Sheriff," Everyone turned at her change in tone, which was more demanding. "Find John Doe. You heard Dr. Whale: time is precious."Once she left the place, the group let out a collective sigh and the sheriff let himself get to work comfortably, asking Whale, "Doctor, how long between your rounds since you last saw him?""Twelve hours or so," He replied, and the Sheriff turned to the three women beside him, saying, "Then that's what we need to account for.""You two were the only employees on the floor last night," Graham tried to confirm with the guard and janitor in the security office. "And you saw nothing,""Not a thing." The security guard repeated."Did anyone walk by?" Emma asked.The janitor, whose tag read Leroy, shrugged. "I didn't see nothing,"Graham then turned to the teacher, asking, "Ms. Blanchard, was there anything unusual you saw during your trip with your class?""I don't think so," Mary-Margaret replied. "Brooklyn, did you see anything?""If anything means an insane man waiting to pounce on an unconscious guy strapped in IVs, then no," The teenager said with a shrug.Meanwhile, Emma quickly walked over to the computer, pointing at the screen. "We're looking at the wrong tape."The room was taken aback at the observation as Emma elaborated, "This is the ward where Henry's class put up decorations. If this was really the tape from last night, we'd see the banners the kids hung."The janitor scoffed and accused the security guard. "You fell asleep again!""You selling me out?" The guard raised his voice."I ain't getting fired for this." Leroy countered."At least I don't drink on the job!" The guard retorted."Gentlemen, enough!" Graham raised his own voice. "Where's the real tape?"The guard switched the tapes and all watch the screen intently as they saw John Doe roam the hallway utterly confused before heading out the door."He walked out alone. He's okay," Mary-Margaret said in relief."Four hours ago," Emma pointed out. "Where does this door lead?""The woods," Leroy immediately answered. The group looked at him simultaneously and he briefly nodded, confirming what he had said.
Brooklyn ran across the forest with her hood over her head, clutching a sack that held her stolen goods tightly. She was on her way to meet Snow White after she stole from a village when she came across a clear road. The archer quickly retreated, knowing all too well that the queen's knights were making their rounds and would pass by that area any time soon.

Brooklyn headed for a nearby tree and climbed it to stay out of sight. Once she was comfortable on top, she decided to sit down and fix her newly-acquired items.

Meanwhile, Prince Charming was knocked into a stream, allowing Snow White to steal a pouch from his bag. She ran the opposite direction and onto the same road Brooklyn had previously been on.

The said archer stopped her task upon hearing someone frantic below her, and her brow raised upon seeing Snow White. Before she could jump down and scare her, a group of knights pulled up in front of the ex-princess.

The head knight smirked to himself and triumphantly said, "Look who we found,"

He hopped off his horse and the two other knights surround Snow White. "There's nowhere to hide. The queen wants your heart,"

He took out a dagger. "And we're not going to disappoint her,"
Brooklyn, Graham, Emma, and Mary-Margaret trudged through the woods with flashlights for any sign of John Doe. Graham stood in front of Brooklyn, while the other two women trailed behind them, as he studied the ground for any track the man may have left.He was doing his job properly until he stopped to bend down."What is it?" Mary-Margaret asked from the back.The sheriff tried his best to hide his confusion as he answered, "The trail runs out here,"Brooklyn sighed as Emma spoke for both of them. "You sure? Because I thought tracking was one of your skills,"Graham stood and held his hands out, saying, "Just give me a second. This is my world. I got it."The teenager simply rolled her eyes at that and walked ahead.Brooklyn had been following the tracks with Graham, a skill that her father had taught her when she was little and sighed when the Sheriff stopped abruptly. Clearly, Graham needed to revisit his tracking skills because Brooklyn still saw where the trail had went cold in Graham's eyes.
Snow White was struggling while being held up against a tree. Brooklyn, still in her hiding position, really wanted to punch the cowardly guards who were going to kill her friend, but she sensed someone else was coming — more like rushing — towards their direction.

She armed her bow, aiming straight at the knight's back, just in case, but it wasn't needed as the archer's predictions were proven right.

As the knight raised the blade, another immediately embedded itself through his back. Both Snow and Brooklyn turned to see Prince Charming, who unsheathed his sword and began fighting the second knight.

Brooklyn successfully jumped down unnoticed as Snow ran off towards the horses and got pulled onto another by the last guard.

The teenager sprinted past the trees and her eyes followed the horse, releasing an arrow meters away on the path where she knew the knight would be on. The arrow hit him dead on the chest and Snow soon took control of the horse as his body rolled off.

Charming ran in a similar direction Brooklyn had taken, only a few feet away, and caught Snow's attention as she got down the horse to catch her breath.

"You...," She started, but she wasn't able to continue as she spotted a hooded figure in the distance holding a bow in one hand and saluting her with the other before rushing off.

She immediately knew it was Brooklyn who killed the last knight, but she quickly averted her eyes to the royal to prevent suspicion. "You saved me,"

"It seemed like the honorable thing to do," Charming told her.
The group had moved a few feet forward with Brooklyn in the lead when Graham jogged up beside her. "Jordan, I've got it from here. Why don't you check on the others? They're falling behind,"The teenager raised her brow at him, glancing at Emma and Mary-Margaret's silhouettes and asked, "Why? They look fine,""I just don't want anyone of us to get injured, and if one of us will, it's me." He told her.Brooklyn slowly nodded her head at the sheriff, giving him a look and said, "Okay then..."She walked back to Emma and Mary-Margaret to see them talking to someone, and her eyes widened when she saw who it was. "Henry?! What are you doing here?""Yeah, kid, where's your mom?" Emma agreed with the teenager. "She's going to kill me!" She told him, before adding, "And then you, and then me again.""She'll probably stab me first before she buries your corpse," Brooklyn added, telling Emma.Emma glared at the teenager, who just confirmed that the blonde was as good as dead with Regina, while Henry answered her question. "She dropped me at the house, then went right out.""We need to get you back, kiddo," Brooklyn told him.Henry shook his head and protested. "No!""Guys!" Graham called for the group before anyone could say anything else, and they all went over to Graham, who showed them a blood-stained wristband he found on a leaf."Is that...?" Mary-Margaret started.Brooklyn finished the statement. "Blood.""He can't be that far then," Mary-Margaret said. "If he was losing blood, he must have passed out somewhere."Brooklyn looked at the ground and found more of the tracks heading a certain direction. "The trail goes on here,"They all followed the teenager to a river where a bridge stood on the right side with a sign that says Toll Bridge."Where is he? Can you see him?" Mary-Margaret asked worriedly."The trail dies at the waterline," Graham replied.Brooklyn pulled Henry aside and held his hand as the adults continued their search for John Doe.All of a sudden, they heard Mary-Margaret screaming. "Oh my god! Oh my god, oh my god!"Graham immediately pulled out his walkie-talkie device as they rushed over to the unconscious man, carrying him ashore. "I need an ambulance! At the old Toll Bridge as soon as possible!""N-n-no, no, no! N-no, no, no, I found you!" Mary-Margaret kept uttering, urgently trying to wake John Doe up. "It's going to be okay,""Help's coming," Graham informed her."Is he okay?" Henry asked and tried to peek at whatever was happening as Brooklyn held him back. "Is he going to be okay?""Guys, don't look, okay? Henry, don't look." Emma ran over to the two and shielded the boy's sight by hugging the pair as Mary-Margaret proceeded with CPR. Brooklyn simply looked down at the ten-year-old until they heard gasping, and Emma turned around to see John Doe awake and breathing."She did it." Henry smiled. "She did it! She woke him up,""Yeah kid, she did," Brooklyn commented.Emma registered this all with a shocked look on her face as an ambulance came. The paramedics lifted John Doe onto a stretcher and the group of five followed them inside, Henry clinging onto his babysitter.On the way back to the hospital, Brooklyn found herself sucked into another one of her vivid dreams.
The teenager watched as a man and a woman exchanged a conversation. The woman wore ragged clothing with dark, long, wavy hair whole the man wore leather, telling Brooklyn he was nobility, with hazel-colored hair.

When the pair parted ways, Brooklyn watched as the man paused and watched the woman walk away before leaving. It was only when the man was walking away when the woman turned and watched him.

Brooklyn felt herself smirk mischievously as she eyed the woman in particular, and soon hopped down from the tree to catch up with her.
"Brooklyn?" Henry whispered, snapping her back to reality.The said girl shook her dream away before replying, "Yeah?"Henry furrowed his eyebrows, noticing her troubled state, and raised a different question to what he was supposed to. "What were you thinking about?""Oh, um... You know, how we'll explain to your mom if she finds out you were gone. Plan B always works." She replied with a shrug. "So what were you going to ask?""Oh, i-it's nothing," He said, shaking his head
Snow and James stopped in the middle of the pathway after their encounter with the trolls and returned the pouches to their respectful owners. One held the prince's jewels while the other held gold coins.

Prince James shook his own pouch and took out a ring, telling Snow White, "I know, not your style,"

The woman took the ring from his hand and said, "Well, there's only one way to find out," Snow placed the ring on her finger and stared at it for a few seconds before she snapped out of her own thoughts and took it off quickly. "Yeah, not me at all. I'm sure your fiancée will love it,"

The hooded archer watched the whole exchange from high up, making sure they were unaware of her presence. She smirked to herself as she recognized the budding romance, but her face quickly fell when she felt her stomach drop at the same sight.

She watched as James and Snow took their time in saying goodbye, clearly not wanting to let go. When they finally mustered the courage in themselves to part ways, Charming stayed for a few seconds watching Snow walk away. It was only when he decided to take his own way that the female thief turned and watched the prince go with a longing look on her face.

Snow White sighed and turned on her heel, only to be stopped by a hooded female jumping out of the bushes in front of her. She jumped on instinct but quickly recognized the hazel-brown hair under the cloak. "What was that for?"

The teenager smirked and said, "What? Upset that I disrupted your lovey-dovey feelings?"

"I am not thinking lovey-dovey, thank you very much," Snow countered defensively, which made Brooklyn smirk even more.

"You know you like him. At least tell me you didn't feel anything when you tried the ring on?"

"You saw that?" Snow exclaimed, shocked.

Brooklyn simply nodded in reply. "Don't underestimate me, princess."

The thief just huffed and doesn't speak. Brooklyn took the hint and spoke in a sing-song voice, "Snow and James, sitting on a tree —,"

"Don't you dare!" Snow cut her friend off but soon joined Brooklyn in her laughter anyway. "I'm not in love, just so you know, Brooklyn."

The brunette simply rolled her eyes at Snow. "Whatever you say, Snow White."
The paramedics wheeled John Doe into the emergency room the minute the ambulance pulled up at the hospital. Brooklyn, Henry, Mary-Margaret, Emma, and Graham watched through the glass as Dr. Whale attended to the man when a blonde woman suddenly pushed her way inside and to John Doe's side.Dr. Whale desperately tried to get her to stay back and Mary-Margaret voiced out what everyone was thinking, "Who is that?""His wife." They all heard. The group turned around to see Regina standing behind them with a mischievous-looking smirk on her face."I'm sorry, what?" Brooklyn spoke up and raised a brow, aware that she had a 75% chance of pissing her off."Sheriff, you're dismissed," The mayor told Graham and he briefly exited the hospital.Henry and Brooklyn took a seat on the two nearby chairs and Emma sat on a separate chair as Mary-Margaret watched John Doe inside."His name is David Nolan, and that's his wife, Kathryn," Regina informed the four of them. "And the joy on her face, well, it's put me in quite the forgiving mood." She then averted her gaze to Henry. "We'll talk about your insubordination later. Do you know what insubordination means?"Henry shook his head no with his bottom lip slightly pouted."It means you're grounded," Regina told him firmly.Henry shared a sad glance with his friend when Regina added, "You're only to leave the house for school or with Brooklyn or me by your side,"That seemed to lift his spirits a bit as the boy smiled at Brooklyn.Before anyone can say anything else, Kathryn came out of the room and turned to Ms. Blanchard.  "Thank you. Thank you for finding my David,"Mary-Margaret plastered the best smile she could on her face and stuttered out, "Um, I-I don't understand. You didn't... You didn't know he was here in a coma?"Kathryn sighed. "A few years ago, David and I were not getting along. It was my fault, and I know that now. I was difficult and not supportive. I told him that if he didn't like things, he could leave... And he did, and I didn't stop him. It was the worst mistake I ever made."Emma leaned forward and furrowed her brows. "You didn't go look for him?""I assumed he'd left town all this time, and now I know why I never heard from him," Kathryn explained. "Now I get to do what I've wanted to do forever: say I'm sorry. Now we get a second chance,""That's wonderful," Mary-Margaret grinned and nodded her head, but Brooklyn saw past that attempt of matching Kathryn's joy on her face.Dr. Whale then exited the room and gave his news. "Well, it's something of a miracle,""He's okay?" Kathryn asked, astounded."Ah, physically, he's on the mend." He explained. "His memory is another issue. It may take time if it all.""What brought him back?" Mary-Margaret asked, and Dr. Whale seems confused himself as he answered, "That's the thing; there's no explanation. Something just clicked in him.""So he just got up and decided to go for a stroll?" Brooklyn asked sarcastically."He woke up, and he was delirious and his first instinct was to go find something, I guess." Dr. Whale answered."Someone," Henry corrected, making all eyes fall on him."Can I see him?" Kathryn hopefully asked, unaware of the tension in the room and Dr. Whale agreed, "Yeah, of course."A second after Kathryn went inside, Regina spoke up. "Henry, let's go,"The said boy got up from his seat and walked towards his mother when Brooklyn noticed his backpack still on the chair. "Henry, your backpack,"The boy turned around to get it from his friend but stopped briefly to whisper to Ms. Blanchard, "Don't believe them. You're the one he was looking for,""Henry..." Mary-Margaret sighed."He was going to the Troll Bridge," Henry insisted. "It's like the end of the story.""Henry, he was going there because it's the last thing I read to him," Mary-Margaret convinced.Henry continued to persist. "No, it's because you belong together,"Regina called for him, making him stop. "Henry." The said boy then obediently left with his mother.Emma suddenly got up from her chair and followed the pair, leaving Brooklyn confused. Mary-Margaret was too occupied to notice.The teenager put her head in her hands, groaning as she thought about the whole thing.
The man had no I.D., but if he'd intentionally left his wife, wouldn't he at least bring a phone or wallet with some kind of identification with him?
Brooklyn decided that the situation at hand was just too much of an adult thing to handle, and the teenager was more focused on the vision she had in the ambulance. She got up and placed a comforting hand on Mary-Margaret's shoulder, saying, "Hey, I'll go ahead, no pressure. I'll see you tomorrow,"Mary-Margaret nodded back sadly, "Okay, stay safe."With that, Brooklyn left the hospital and walked back to her apartment, thinking about the vision as she tugger her flight jacket closer to her.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"I KNOW YOU think otherwise, but I don't enjoy these Saturday city council meetings. Sometimes they're just unavoidable," Regina told her son, walking out from the corner after finishing her makeup.The boy was seated with Brooklyn, who was helping him with his homework on the dining table. "Now, you know the rules?"Henry looked up at his mother and nodded, "Yes on homework, no on TV, and stay inside with Brooklyn."She smiled at him and said, "Good boy,", Her smile quickly changed to a frown as she added, "Under no circumstance do you leave this house,""You mean don't see my mom," He clarified, which caused Brooklyn to give him a look, shaking her head. "Henry,""She's not your mother," Regina told him. "She's just a woman passing through. Now do as I say or there will be consequences," She turned around sharply. "I'll be back at five sharp,"With that, the door slammed shut behind the woman.Henry eyed the door for a few more seconds, making sure his mother really left, before looking back at his homework."Henry, don't be blunt around your mom like that," Brooklyn told the boy."But it's true, Brooke," Henry said, looking up from his homework. "Emma is my mom,""I know it's true," Brooklyn said. "But don't rub it in your mom's face. It's wrong and it hurts her,"Henry lowered his head back on his homework and said, "Nothing hurts her. She's the Evil Queen,"Brooklyn sighed, "Henry, she's a person. Evil or not, she still gets hurt, and don't you think she's hurt that you snuck around her back and brought back your birth mother into your life?"The boy tapped his pencil on the desk as Brooklyn said, "Henry, just because you think your mom doesn't love you means she really doesn't. I know you want to spend time with Emma, but at least try to work it out with them both,"Henry shut his workbook and said, "My mom doesn't want to work it out. Emma's the Savior who'll break the curse that's why she wants her gone — not because she's my birth mother," He turned on the chair so his body was facing Brooklyn, as was his full attention. "I don't wanna hurt my mom, but I need to help you and the rest of the town, Brooke. We gotta break the curse,"Brooklyn paused a moment. Henry was really riding on his storybook theory and while she's committed to each crazy step they've done so far, she can't help but think it's getting more complicated each day."Just promise me, that you won't hurt your mom," She told the boy.Henry smiled and said, "I promise,"Brooklyn held her pinky up for him, who only scrunched up his brows in dislike. They used to do pinky promises when he was younger, but he outgrew that habit last year."Pinky promise," Brooklyn said. Henry hesitated, but held his pinky up and crossed it with Brooklyn's saying, "Pinky promise,""Great, now go do your homework," Brooklyn said, nudging at the closed workbook on the dining table.Her phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out, reading the text message.
Brooke, Ashley needs our help.

I'm with Henry.

Please find a way. Ashley. Baby. Emergency. ASAP.
Brooklyn switched her phone off, looking up at Henry, who'd just asked him a question, "Wait, sorry, again?""Then can we go see Emma? When I'm done with my homework? Mom's coming back at five," Henry asked again.The brunette clicked her tongue to her cheek, thinking for a moment, then said, "Sure, I need to catch some missing shifts in Granny's. I can bring you over to Emma's then bring you home before five,"Henry immediately perked up and said, "Seriously?" He dropped his pencil and said, "Then I'm done,"Brooklyn raised a brow and retorted, "Seriously?""I told my mom I had homework for this reason," Henry told his best friend, sliding his workbook to show Brooklyn. "It's the same one from last week,"The teenager raised her brow, saying, "Clever, kiddo. Let's go then,"
Brooklyn sat perched on one of the palace's open windows watching the reception of Prince Thomas and Princess Ella's wedding. She was there for Snow, who couldn't sit still after her own wedding, but the archer managed to get herself as far from the actual event as possible.

Despite being around Snow for a few years now, dancing and balls still didn't sit well with her.

Brooklyn watched as 
Snow
 danced with the new bride, Charming smiling as his wife danced with her friend. After they were done, Snow and Charming shared a dance floor and the archer kept her eye on them, not finding anything better to do when she suddenly heard, "Enjoying the view there, dearie?"

The cloaked archer immediately armed her bow and aimed it behind her to see a green, glittery human in front of her, demanding, "What do you want?"

"Oh, just checking on our visitor," The man smirked. "And you might want to put that down, dearie. You know you can't kill me,"

Brooklyn glared at the man as she lowered the bow and swung it back around her. "A stay for more than seven years no longer makes me a visitor, 
Dark One
." She practically spat.

"Whatever floats your boat," Rumplestiltskin shrugged in his rather mocking voice. "And to answer your question, I need a favor."

"I don't do favors," Brooklyn stated, not looking at Rumplestiltskin but back at the window. "And I owe you nothing."

"True," Rumple agreed. "But there's also that lurking desire in you. You know how this works, dearie; you'll get something in return,"

"I want nor need nothing from you," Brooklyn told him with a hint of annoyance, but there was no denying her curiosity from herself.

What did the Dark One need from her? And why her amongst all people?

"Is that so? Even, I don't know... Go back to where you came from?"

Rumplestiltskin smirked, knowing that he hit the archer's soft spot without mentioning it.
After Brooklyn dropped Henry off in the apartment complex, she ran over to Granny's and met with Ruby and Ashley."What is it?" The brunette asked, taking a seat at the booth where she saw Ashley sitting. Ruby quickly finished her current task to be with the two for a minute."I need to leave town," Ashley said quietly. "The baby's coming soon and I can't let Mr. Gold take it. I can't,"Brooklyn looked at the blonde worriedly then glanced at Ruby, saying, "That's why you need me. You need me to drive out of Storybrooke,""I told Ashley about your adventure with Henry to Boston," Ruby admitted. "It's the nearest stop outside Storybrooke,""Ash, it's not a quick drive," Brooklyn said. "Are you sure you can get through this alone?"Ashley looked unsure, glanced at Ruby, then said, "I was hoping you could come with me,"The teenager's eyes widened and said, "I can't do that. I need to be back with Henry before five. Boston's a full four-hour drive away from here. The closest I can do is the bus station — an hour, give or take,"Ruby looked at the blonde worriedly, who weighed in the option, and said, "Ash, we can do it tomorrow —,""I can't," Ashley cut Ruby off, pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket. "I stole this from Mr. Gold last night. He'll be looking for me today,""She's right, Ru," Brooklyn said. "Gold's gonna get that back ASAP. If we're helping Ashley at all, it's now. My car's back at the apartment,""No need," Ruby said. "You two can take my car. Billy's bringing it back in five minutes,"Brooklyn sighed, nodding and saying, "Well then, Ashley, do you have everything you need?"Ashley nodded, saying, "Yeah, they're at the back. I'll go get them,"The pregnant blonde stood up and left for the back. Once she rounded the hallway, Brooklyn stood up and paced while Ruby resumed to her tasks.The teenager couldn't believe what she was about to do... again. She peered through the blinds, taking a moment for herself first before going to help Ashley. Billy's tow truck pulled over with Ruby's car and she knew that they had to leave, but her eyes widened as she saw two familiar figures walking to Granny's.A blonde and a young boy."Shit," She muttered then darted to Ruby, saying, "Emma and Henry are here. They think I'm in a shift,"Ruby's eyes widened as well and said, "Head to the back. I'll distract them outside,"Brooklyn ran to the back of the diner, catching Ashley with her bags, saying, "Wait a moment. I gotta hide. Henry's here,"The blonde nodded as the teenager said, "Billy's here with Ruby's car though. We'll leave in five,"
Brooklyn's grip tightened on her sword as she drew it, stopping right beside Rumplestiltskin's neck. Her jaw was clenched as her eyes held a deadly glare that would've frozen anyone on their spot. "Bring that up 
one
 more time — 
I dare you
,"

She never spoke of her past, but being the Dark One, she knew he's got a good idea of it.

"Just one favor, and I won't bother you," Rumple insisted, ignoring the archer's threat as he pushed the blade away from him with his finger.

Brooklyn narrowed her eyes at the man and sheathed her sword. "Depends on what you ask,"

"Take care of our new princess just till her healthy little baby is born," The Dark One stated.

The archer raised a brow, "That's it?"

"That's all you have to do, dearie, and I'll leave you to your business,"

Curiosity got the better of the archer, and she agreed.
"They gone?" Brooklyn asked Ruby, holding Ashley's one and only bag in her arm."Yeah, but there's something you need to know," Ruby said. "Emma's looking for Ashley,""What?" Ashley said with wide eyes, voicing out Brooklyn's thoughts as well."Don't worry, I kept her off-course. She won't know where you are," Ruby said, handing Brooklyn the car keys.Brooklyn turned to Ashley and said, "Let's go then before anyone knows you're out of town,"Ashley nodded and followed Brooklyn out the diner, Ruby right behind the two. Brooklyn placed Ashley's bag at the backseat and opened the passenger seat for Ashley when she saw something hanging on the mirror."Ruby, I'm not driving with your wolf hanging there," Brooklyn told the redhead. For as long as she could remember, she's always disliked Ruby's trinket whenever they rode her car."It's good luck," Ruby reminded the teenager, who said, "It's a distraction. Take it or I'll break it,""Fine," Ruby grumbled as Brooklyn sat in front of the wheel. "Ash, can you hand me that?"The blonde reached for the red wolf charm, unhooking it from the mirror and handed it to Ruby, saying, "Thank you, Ruby,""No problem," Ruby smiled, then looked at both Ashley and Brooklyn. "You two take care. Good luck,"
Prince Charming waited with the expecting couple, Ella and Thomas, for his friend who was, again, stubbornly absent.

"Where is she?" He muttered to himself as he turns around. His heart nearly skipped a beat to see the hooded brunette behind him. "Don't do that again!"

Brooklyn simply raised an eyebrow at him and the prince saw the shadow of her smirk beneath her hood as she said, "No promises, Charming,"

The man simply sighed at the archer as he led Brooklyn, Thomas, and Ella to the cave, where Grumpy waited for them with a torch. The five were quiet as they walked through the passage until the blonde princess spoke up, asking, "Why are we down here?"

"We need a place to keep him." Thomas answered, remembering the conversation he had with Charming, who then added, "Rumplestiltskin is the most dangerous man in all the realms. He needs his own special prison, so we converted the mines to hold him,"

"But how will we get him here?" The princess wondered, looking back and forth at the two men. "He has eluded all forever."

"His strength is also his weakness, his deals. He can't resist making them..." Brooklyn remarked. Ella and Thomas stared at her in surprise, not expecting the hooded archer to speak up, as Grumpy continued Brooklyn's train of thought, "...and we already know who he wants to deal with next: you,"

"We've sent word with one of Snow's bluebirds. He's accepted a meeting with you," Prince Charming informed Ella. "You're going to tell him that the doctor heard something with his stethoscope — two heartbeats."

"You're going to tell him it's twins," Thomas said, and Charming continued, "And if he wants both-,"

"— which he will," Brooklyn interrupted him.

Charming glanced at her before continuing, "You propose a new deal. Grumpy..."

The dwarf took out a box and opened it to reveal a red-feathered quill. Ella looked at it in confusion and said,  "A quill... I-I don't understand..."

"The Blue Fairy cast a spell on it," Grumpy explained. "Whoever signs with this will be frozen, their magic made impotent,"

"All you must do is get him to sign the contract," Charming said. "Ella, this man is a scourge. You're doing the entire land a service."

"Should we even use magic?" She asked worriedly. "Isn't that what's causing these problems to begin with? What if this magic also comes with a price?"

"Then I will pay it," Thomas immediately answered. "I will do whatever is needed to save you and our child,"

"Let's go," Charming told the group, and they then opened another door that led to a cell.

"I hope you like it," Grumpy remarked, somewhat sarcastically. "A lot of dwarf blood went into it,"

"You sure this will work?" Ella again tried to confirm with the princes.

"Once he is in there, he'll never get out. Brooklyn will be there the entire time," Charming reassured her, glancing at the said archer."You'll be safe,"

"You can do this, Ella," Thomas said, and with that, his wife finally mustered up the courage to say, "Okay, let's get him."
Brooklyn and Ashley covered a reasonable amount of distance between them and the diner, the teenager doing her best to keep it fast but steady for the blonde as she briefed her on what to do once she got to the bus station.It was the same instructions she and Henry did back when they went to Emma."Brooke, thank you," Ashley said sincerely once the teenager finished. "Really I —,""Don't thank me yet, Ash," Brooklyn said, glancing at her. "Thank me once we get to the station,""I don't know how to repay you," Ashley said. "I owe you,"Brooklyn hummed, pretending to think for a moment, and said, "You can change Alexandra's name to Brooklyn,"Ashley laughed and the teenager said, "Or...," She blew through her lips, making a blubbery sound. "Nah, Alexandra has more interesting nicknames. Just take care. Consider this a favor,"The blonde smiled at the brunette, gratitude written all over her face when the car started slowing down.Brooklyn got a troubled look on her face as she peeked at the gas, which was still considerably full, and muttered, "Billy, what did you do to Ruby's car?""What's wrong? What happened?" Ashley asked worriedly as Brooklyn tried to start the car again.Nothing."Damn it," Brooklyn grumbled, hitting the wheel. "Should've kept that damned wolf on,"
Ella and The Legend waited for Rumplestiltskin in the gardens when the said man suddenly appeared with a flask in hand.

"Well, well, well. You're starting to show...," He remarked, acknowledging the princess. "The Legend, it's good to have you here," The archer rolled her eyes at him as he spoke to Ella."A little bird told me you wanted to speak."

The princess confidently walked up to him and said, "Yes, I'd like to alter the bargain,"

Brooklyn silently prayed that the woman wouldn't break character as Rumple's face twisted in distaste at the request. "That's not what I do,"

"But I think you'll want to." Ella insisted, holding her stomach, "I'm having twins,"

He tossed his flask aside upon hearing her explanation."Is that so? Let's have a look," He bent down and placed his hands onto Ella's stomach. "And you would, what, give up both?" He said in astonishment. "Why is that I wonder?"

Ella began circling the man as she began, "My husband, he's... He's having a hard time; our kingdom is poor, we're losing money, our crops are dying. We can't support ourselves or our people."
"And you would trade your other child for... comfort?" Rumple turned to face the princess, as Brooklyn took his question in with shock. She never thought of it that way.
Ella gave him a small smirk and said, "I can always have more children, but I can't make crops grow where the soil is dead,"

The archer examined the Dark One's conflicted look while the princess presented the contract. She noticed a hurtful look of nostalgia as if he remembered a memory of his own, but it's gone almost immediately.

"YES!" He snapped, startling both ladies. "Yes, yes it is. If what you're saying is true,"

"It is, and all you have to do is sign on the dotted line," Ella took out the red quill, and Rumplestiltskin amusingly plucked it out of her fingers.

"What a lovely quill! Wherever did you get it?" He asked, to which Ella answered, "It's from our castle,"

"You know, the only way to stop me is through magic,"

The princess laughed it off — a bit nervously — and said, "I'm not trying to stop you,"

"Of course you're not," Rumplestiltskin agreed then suddenly perked up, "Because as we all know, all magic comes with a price. And if you were to use it to say... imprison me, then your debt to me will only grow, and we wouldn't want that now, would we?"

He had the feather beneath the princess's chin, so Brooklyn stepped forward as she noticed Ella getting uncomfortable. "Just sign the contract, 'Stiltskin," She sneered his name.

The said man turned to look at the archer with an amused laugh, and it made Brooklyn believe for a second that he was high on drugs.

"Never imagined The Legend to take interest in this subject, taking it's not

your

kingdom," He commented

She simply raised a brow at him and said, "Sign it before she loses both babies due to the stress from your babbling,"

His mouth morphed into something between a smirk and a sneer before facing the princess again. "Are you sure you're happy with this new agreement?"

Ella responded by holding the contract to his face, making him take it. "Then so it shall be,"

Rumple signed the contract and he was immediately frozen in a blue aura.

"Thomas!" Ella yelled, and on cue, a carriage came into view.

"No one breaks deals with me, dearie," Rumplestiltskin warned Ella.

This irritated Brooklyn, who unsheathed her sword and held it to his throat with a glare. Looking at the magic that held him, she knew that the magic was nothing but squid ink. And despite what the squid ink was capable of, it did 
not 
keep the Dark One's mouth shut.

Rumplestiltskin could only look at the blade as he added, "Not even the legendary Brooklyn Jones,"

"It wasn't mine, to begin with," The said girl growled, "I agreed to get you out of my way, in exchange for

her

safety."

The statement shocked Ella, who was clearly unaware of the history between the two.
When Brooklyn failed a couple more times in getting the car to move, Ashley grabbed her bag from the backseat then opened the door without a word.Brooklyn turned to the blonde, shocked, and said, "Ashley, what are you doing?""I need to get out of here," Ashley said, starting to walk away from Ruby's car. "If the car won't start, then I'm going by foot,"The brunette's eyes widened as she got out and rounded the car, calling at the blonde, "Ashley, slow down. Are you serious? Out the town line is an hour's drive away,""I just need to get away from Mr. Gold," Ashley said worriedly, Brooklyn now catching up to her and grabbing the blonde's bag."Ash, calm down. Breathe for a moment," Brooklyn said. "I'll call Billy and he'll hitch us a ride,"Ashley paused, nodding at Plan B, and let Brooklyn take out her phone, but before Brooklyn could even take it out her pocket, Ashley yelped in pain as she felt her stomach contract.Brooklyn's eyes widened as she held her arms out for Ashley, who continued to cry out in pain and hunched over, sitting on the grass that they were on."Ashley, come on, breathe," Brooklyn said. "It's the stress,"Ashley's face twisted in pain as she managed to shake her head, saying, "No... The baby... She's coming,"Brooklyn let Ashley wrap her arm around her shoulder for support as she heaved her breaths."Oh my god," Ashley panted. "Brooke, I'm so sorry. I —,""No, it's fine. Don't panic, okay?" Brooklyn said, looking straight at Ashley. "I'll call for help —,""No!" Ashley shot. "No, I'm going to Boston,""Ashley, no questions asked. The baby's coming and we need to get you to a hospital now," Brooklyn told the girl."Ashley?" They suddenly heard. Brooklyn's eyes widened as another familiar voice called out. "Brooke?""Speak of the devil," Brooklyn muttered, turning around to see a worried Emma and Henry by the road. The day was just coming full circle and was starting to weird the teenager out. "Help us out here, Emma,""The baby's coming," Ashley managed to say, clutching her stomach.Emma wasted no time helping Brooklyn lift Ashley to her car, the blonde being supported on either side. Henry watched and got in the car with the girls, sitting at the back with Brooklyn.Emma turned the car around and started speeding to the hospital. Meanwhile, the teenager figured that Ruby's car was the least of her worries right now. Though Ruby'll have to have Billy take a look at the car again, she'd get to rub it in Brooklyn's face that the red wolf charm was indeed good luck."Is the baby really coming?" Henry asked as Ashley was panting in front."Oh yeah," Emma answered, then looked to Ashley, saying, "Don't worry. The hospital isn't that far,"Ashley's eyes went wide at that and she shook her head in panic, "No, no, no, no, take me to Boston. I can't go back there,""Oh, no we don't have four hours," Emma told the younger blonde, reiterating what Brooklyn had said earlier that day. "Trust me, I know,""I can't go back there, please," Ashley was pleading as the tears started falling from both her panic and the pain in her abdomen. "He's gonna take my baby,""I won't let that happen," Emma reassured her. "But do you know what you're asking for? If you keep this child are you really ready?""Yeah," Ashley answered without hesitation."Are you sure?" Emma asked again, glancing at her. "Because I wasn't,"Ashley looked at her, stunned that the woman beside her shared the same experience. "You weren't,"Emma shook her head and said, "Nope. If you want to give this kid its best chance, it's gonna be with someone who's ready, so know what that means. Your whole life is gonna change, and once you decide that it's yours, this running away can't happen. You have to grow up, and you can't ever leave. Understand?"Brooklyn didn't miss the look in Emma's eyes that she saw through the mirror as Ashley gulped, answering, "Yes. I want my baby,"
A frozen Rumplestiltskin was being hauled over into the cage behind a carriage as Ella and Prince Thomas reunited. Brooklyn was helping Charming and Grumpy when she heard the princess's shouts.

"Thomas, it's okay! It's passed," Brooklyn turned around and saw no Thomas in sight. "Thomas?" Ella started heading into the forest alone when the archer appeared beside her.

"I'll come with you," Brooklyn notched an arrow onto her bow. "But stay behind me,"

Ella nodded her head and followed Brooklyn as they ventured further into the trees. They came across a well, and Brooklyn picked up the cape that she found on it.

Ella immediately recognized it as Thomas's and looked around her for any other sign of him. "Thomas?!"

Getting an idea that there was something wrong, she took the cape from The Legend, who was holding it out from her and rushed back to the carriage where the Dark One was held.
"What were you doing with Ashley?" Emma asked Brooklyn."Helping a friend," Brooklyn answered."By helping her run from her problems," Emma added.Brooklyn shot her a look and retorted, "With a newly fixed car at least,""That broke down in the middle of the road," Emma shot back. "Seriously? Leaving for Boston in the middle of the day. Henry said you two were just sneaking out until five,""It was just the bus station, then I go back," Brooklyn defended, making a motion with her hands that drew out bus station on her left, then back on her right. "Two hours. Easy,""It's not supposed to be easy," Henry spoke out, telling his best friend. "Ashley can't leave town,""What's that?" Emma asked, not totally understanding."You won't get it," Henry told her. "You're different. You're the only one who can do it,""Break the curse? Yes, I know," Emma said, guessing it was about the storybook, which was why she couldn't understand completely. "You keep telling me that,""No, leave," Henry clarified. "You're the only one who can leave Storybrooke,""You and Brooklyn left, came and found me in Boston," Emma pointed out, confused."But we came back. Brooklyn was born here, so she had some power. I'm ten. I had no choice," Henry said. "But if anyone else tried to go, bad things would happen,"Emma's eyebrows shot up as she asked, "Anyone, except me?""You're the savior. You can do whatever you want," Henry said, then a sad look crossed his face as he said, "You can go,"A nurse approached the three with a smile on her face, telling Emma, "Ms. Swan, the baby is a healthy six-pound girl, and the mother is doing fine,""What lovely news," Gold responded, coming into the waiting area. They all turned to the man in surprise. "Excellent work, Ms. Swan. Thank you for bringing me my merchandise,"Brooklyn's eyes widened and she shot a glare at Emma, who immediately turned to the teenager, holding a hand out and uttering, "I'll handle it,"When Emma came back from talking to Gold, Brooklyn was more than ready to drill Emma with questions, but Henry got up first and asked if they could go see Ashley and her new baby.They made their way to where Ashley was and Henry ran up excitedly to her. Emma and Brooklyn followed, and Emma smiled at the new glowing mother."What's her name?" Emma asked.Ashley couldn't take her eyes off her child as she answered, "Alexandra,""Brooklyn," The brunette added, and Ashley chuckled, saying, "Actually, her name's Alexandra Bree. The B for Brooklyn,"Brooklyn had a surprised look and said, "No way. Are you serious?"Ashley shrugged, a smile on her face as she saw Brooklyn's reaction, and said, "Of course. You helped me with this,""Well, Lexi, it looks like you're named after me," Brooklyn grinned, giving a small wave at the baby girl.Emma smiled at the two teenagers as Ashley looked up and told Emma, "Thank you for getting me here,""Mr. Gold was outside, but I took care of it," Emma told the new mother. "She's yours,"It was Ashley's turn to be shocked as she said, "She is? But what did you do?"Emma shrugged and said, "Made a deal with him,""Thank you," Ashley said, holding Alexandra close. "Thank you,"Brooklyn caught a glance at the clock and it read 4:40. She nudged Henry, saying, "Kiddo, it's almost five. We gotta get you home,"Emma offered to drive the two home to get there earlier, and the two found themselves at the back of Emma's yellow bug yet again.The second time for Brooklyn, but the n-th time for Henry already."Pumpkin," Emma suddenly said. Henry and Brooklyn shot her weird looks from the back so she clarified. "My code name. I was thinking in honor of Cinderella... Pumpkin,"Brooklyn snorted and said, "Finish it up. Make it Squash,"Henry giggled and shook his head while Emma looked at Henry, asking, "You got a better one in mind?""Yep," Henry said. Emma anticipated his suggestion, and when he said nothing, she glanced at him and said, "Well?""I'm not sure you're ready yet," Henry said, just as they pulled over in front of his house. He and Brooklyn got out the car, climbing through the passenger seat and they were almost at the front gate when Emma called,"Henry!" The boy turned around, and Brooklyn opened the gate, waiting for him by that. "About what you said at the hospital, about me being able to leave?""Yeah?" Henry said.Brooklyn noticed a bit of sadness in his voice, but Emma smiled and said, "See you tomorrow,"Henry grinned and turned around, catching up to Brooklyn and the two darted for the house before Regina could see them. Henry was a lot faster than Brooklyn, the teenager having to close the gate and the door behind them while the little boy just kept going.He ran up the stairs, and Brooklyn sighed in relief to see Regina just pulling up through the window. She followed Henry up, but she raised a brow as one of Henry's shoes were left on the stairs.Brooklyn picked it up just as Regina entered the house and headed for the stairs."Is Henry upstairs?" She asked the teenager."Yup," Brooklyn nodded.Regina narrowed her eyes at the shoe Brooklyn was holding and asked, "Why do you have one of Henry's shoes?""Oh, we were just playing," Brooklyn told her, waving the shoe up. "I stole his shoe 'cause he wouldn't stop nagging me about his new comic book,"Regina smiled, a small chuckle slipping through, and said, "He has been asking for it for a while now. Well, you're welcome to stay for dinner. I'm sure Henry would love to have you around for a bit more,"

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

BROOKLYN STOOD ACROSS A TARGET

she made on a tree as she notched an arrow onto her bow. The teenager narrowed her eyes and released the arrow, and her eyes lit up when it hit the center.

"FINALLY!" She exclaimed. She took two more arrows from behind her and proceeded to split the arrow on the target one after the other.

Brooklyn smirked to herself victoriously when she heard someone say, "Never gets old,"

The teenager turned to see a boy her age grinning as he leaned against a tree with his arms crossed. Brooklyn took another arrow and split her third arrow at the center as she furrowed her eyebrows. "Really? You watch the Lost Boys train every day; I ought to think that's tiring,"

The boy uncrossed his arms and walked towards her, and that's when Brooklyn noticed his eyes. They were familiar to her, although she couldn't remember the last time she saw them. "The boys can hit their target once in a while," The boy smirked at her as he raised a brow. "But never like you do,"

Brooklyn smiled amusingly as she said, "Was that a compliment?"

"What? Never heard one before?" The boy said back.

Brooklyn simply shrugged and took a knife from her waist, tossing it upward and catching it while it spun mid-air. "What'd you really come here for?" She asked him, a bit skeptical. "Did you develop an alter ego and decided to flirt?" She returned his smirk and threw the knife at the target, splitting the fourth arrow with a thud.

The boy's eyes widened in amusement, eyebrows shooting up before he answered, "I came to tell you that the boys are hunting for dinner,"

Brooklyn raised her brow in confusion. "But we just did that yesterday," A thought hit her and she burst out laughing."You 
are
 here to flirt!"

"

Spending time with you

sounds more appropriate," He told her, shifting uncomfortably at his failed attempt to lie.

"Well then," The archer grinned as she grabbed his hand and pulled him closer, "I have a few tricks to show you,"
"Brooklyn,"The teenager didn't respond."Earth to Brooklyn,"The teenager perked up and said, "Sorry,"She was having dinner with Ruby as they caught up on what happened with Ashley.Brooklyn did tell her about the car, and Ruby did rub it in her face that the Red Wolf Charm was good luck.But she had suddenly got another vision in the middle of dinner, and she zoned out for a quick second.Ruby looked at her friend worriedly and asked, "You okay?""Yeah, I'm fine," Brooklyn said. "I was just thinking of something,""About what?" Ruby asked, leaning in.Brooklyn was familiar with Ruby's reaction to something juicy, so she used that to switch the topic, saying, "Ashley's baby's name,"Ruby gave her a look and said, "Yeah, right. What's really going on?""No, I'm serious," Brooklyn said, bringing the conversation back. "She named her after me,"The girl was surprised and she asked, "What? She changed Alexandra?""No, baby's still Alexandra," Brooklyn said. "But she added a Bree because you know, B for Brooklyn,"Ruby's face fell in awe and she said, "That's cute. Wait, I gotta meet her soon,""We'll find some time soon," Brooklyn said.Just then, the ground shook violently, a loud blast coming from outside and scaring everyone in the restaurant."What the hell was that?" Brooklyn muttered.Ruby looked out the window to see a crowd of people running around in panic, but the firetruck was headed the opposite direction."Seems like they know," Ruby told Brooklyn, pointing to the truck. "Come on, let's see what it is,"The girls followed the firetruck to the mines, where they found Marco and just about a handful of people who were just as curious to see what caused the earthquake."Is that a crater?" Ruby asked Marco."No, they were tunnels, old mines," He told them, motioning to the huge hole the firefighters were now investigating. "Something collapsed."Just then, Regina arrived in her own car and started warning the crowd, "Be careful, step back!"Everyone obliged as the sheriff's car showed up. "Sheriff, set up a police perimeter. Marco, why don't you help with the fire department? Miss Swan, this is now official town business- you're free to go.""Well, actually I work for the town now," Emma told the mayor."She's my new deputy," Graham quickly informed her, leaving Regina dumbfounded."They say the mayor's always last to know?"She asked, to which he replied, "It's in my budget,""Indeed," The grimace on her face was undeniable as Regina gave her orders to Emma. "Deputy, why don't you make yourself useful and help with crowd control?"Emma exchanged a glance with Graham as they move to do their job. Regina then turned to the crowd and said, "People of Storybrooke, don't be alarmed. We've always known this area was honeycombed with old mining tunnels, but fear not."Archie and Henry arrived at the scene and the boy immediately found Brooklyn in the crowd, running to her and taking a hold of her hand. The teenager looked at him and grinned then exchanged smiles with Archie as Regina continued, "I'm going to undertake a project to make this area safe, to rehabilitate it to city use. We will bulldoze it, collapse it. Pave it,"At that, Henry let go of Brooklyn and squeezed between the people in front. "Pave it?" Regina immediately looked at him as he said, "What if there's something down there?"Regina bent down and whispered, "Henry, what are you doing here?"He ignored the question and persisted. "What's down there?""Nothing, now step back." Henry took two steps backward as Regina stood up straight and motioned her arms outward at everyone. "In fact, everyone please, please step back. Thank you,"The crowd retreated back to where the cars were parked when Henry and Brooklyn noticed Regina pick up a shard of glass from the ground and tried to inconspicuously tuck it in her pocket."Brooke, did you see that?" Henry asked, tugging at her arm, and the teenager nodded, but she was unable to say anything as Regina walked over to the pair."Henry, enough." She pulled Henry over to the side. "Listen, this is a safety issue. Brooklyn, please bring him to the car,"Brooklyn nodded at the woman and led Henry to the car. She opened the door for him and said, "Just stay here, kiddo. I'm going to talk to Archie,""Brooke, wait!" He called, scanning the area before getting out of the car. "Hey, Archie! Over here," He pulled Brooklyn behind the sheriff's car the man joined them, along with Emma. "This requires all of Operation Cobra — all of you," He said, looking to Emma towards the end."I didn't realize I was in Operation Cobra," Archie told the boy."Of course you are. You know everything," He replied. "We can't let her do this. What if there's something down there?""They're just some old tunnels, kiddo," Brooklyn tried to sway him, but he contradicted by saying, "That just happen to collapse right after Emma gets here?"The said woman gave Archie and Brooklyn a glance as Henry looked up at her and said, "You're changing things; you're weakening the curse.""That's not what's happening," Emma said, trying to disregard that, but Henry was insistent, saying, "Yes, it is. Did you do anything different today? 'Cause something made this happen,"Emma then held the badge on her waist."Henry, I told you to wait in the car!" Regina noticed their little circle and stalked over to them before glaring at Emma. "Deputy, do your job,"Brooklyn and Henry walked back to the car as Regina talked to Archie and Henry said, "Brooke, we really need to know what's down there,"Brooklyn shook her head and said, "Henry, it's not safe. You see how your mom's handling this,""She's just trying to keep the curse from weakening. She's hiding something," Henry insisted."These are underground tunnels you're talking about, Henry. It's too dangerous and it's not worth it," Henry's expression turned gloomy and Brooklyn held his shoulder. "Look, it's not that I don't believe in you. I do, and that's why I'm telling you not to do this. If you say Regina is hiding something down there, then I'll let you keep that thought. I know you can think of some other way to get Emma to believe in this curse you're talking about,"Henry sighed and smiled as he said, "Thanks, Brooke,"Thinking quickly, Brooklyn found a way to cheer him up. "Did you hear how your mom called Emma earlier?""Um..., how?" He narrowed his eyes in confusion."Deputy," Brooklyn stated.Henry only shook his head, not catching up."Deputy. She works for the town now. Maybe...," Brooklyn trailed off for Henry to catch on and the boy's eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "That's what caused this! She's a step closer from breaking the curse,"The teenager smiled as Henry found his energy again. "Exactly," Looking to her right, she spotted Regina coming closer, making her say, "Don't be too loud. Operation Cobra's still top secret, isn't it?"The boy nodded, and Brooklyn saluted him. "I better go,"Henry grinned as she walked back to Ruby.

- NEXT DAY -

The next day, Brooklyn was in Mary-Margaret's apartment helping Emma settle in. Since the blonde now had a job in Storybrooke and thus making her stay in the town official, she decided to move in permanently with Mary-Margaret.The teenager was helping them arrange her old room in the place into something Emma could use, since neither she nor Mary-Margaret bothered to touch Brooklyn's room, which was still being frequently used despite her not living there anymore.Brooklyn came down the stairs, excited for s'mores, when she heard Mary-Margaret say, "I am the worst person in the world,""Really? The whole world?" Brooklyn asked her, taking a s'more from the plate and sitting beside Emma."If Kathryn was horrible, it would be a lot easier — but she's so... nice," She told them, taking a bite of her s'more."And what exactly would be easier?" Emma asked.Mary-Margaret then shook her head, dismissing all thoughts. "Nothing,""Nothing's a good idea," Emma told her. "You're smart. You know not to get involved with a married guy. It's not worth the heartache. Trust me."They suddenly heard a knock at the door, and Brooklyn jumped, saying, "I'll get it," She opened the door to see Henry with reddened eyes and wiping his tears."Henry..., "The teenager let him in and closed the door. "What happened, kiddo?"The boy sniffed as he stuttered, "A-Archie, h-he...,"Brooklyn knelt down opened her arms out for him when he couldn't continue, muttering, "C'mere,"Henry accepted the hug and rested his head on her shoulder as he cried, "He told me to stop it with the curse, with Operation Cobra, with e-everything. He said everything is a delusion, a-and he says it's too much...,""What?" Emma said, having listened to him. "I'm talking to him," The two looked at her expectantly as she determinedly said, "C'mon kid, I'll bring you to your mom's office. I'll talk to Archie right after,"There was no objection as she opened the door, Brooklyn, and Henry following her.Emma opened the door to the mayor's office for Brooklyn and Henry as she told them, "You two wait here for Regina. I'm going to go talk to Archie,"The teenager simply nodded at her before she left. The two are silent until they heard the yellow bug pull out to the driveway."We have to get to the mines, Brooke," Henry said. "I gotta look for proof down there. Emma's changing things and I need to prove it. She needs to break the curse,"The effect of what Archie had told him was so blatantly obvious to Brooklyn that she couldn't find it in herself to stop him."I'm starting to regret this," Brooklyn mumbled to herself, staring at the mine's entrance with Henry beside her. Yellow caution tape covered the remaining fragments of the mine's wooden structure and Brooklyn couldn't see past the entrance."C' mon, it's not that bad, Brooke," Henry told her. "You're The Legend — this is a piece of cake,""Sure it is," Brooklyn said, slightly sarcastically. "Compared to getting rolled over by the bulldozer your mom plans to use on this mine if she finds out about this,""And she won't," He replied confidently. He bent down to open his bag and took out two flashlights, a few candy wrappers falling out in the process. Henry handed Brooklyn one and the other for himself before swinging his bag over his shoulder again.The brunette stopped him with her free hand as Henry took a step forward. "Wait, if I'm this Legend, I go first,"The two switched their flashlights on and Brooklyn watched her step (and head) as she carefully went inside the mine. Henry clung onto her jacket as he started flashing his light everywhere."So what kind of proof are you exactly looking for?" Brooklyn asked as she watched his light go in all directions. The teenager was shocked to find the mine still intact past the broken entrance and "off-limits" tape."The glass my mom found on the ground last night," He answered. "I think there's more down here. She hid it in her pocket, which means that she doesn't want it found,"When Brooklyn and Henry shined their light on the wall in front of them, some of the light reflected back at them, causing them to squint. Henry took this as a sign and ran for the wall, scaling it to find pieces of glass embedded in it. He and Brooklyn managed to take a loose piece out and study the white lines on them."What do you think it is?" Henry asked as he shined the light onto the fragment.Brooklyn looked at it for a while, guessing that the white lines meant it was once for decorations, but she wasn't able to reply when she felt the ground tremble underneath them. She looked up to see some pebbles starting to rain down and she muttered, "Henry...?"The boy was too busy with the glass so Brooklyn held onto his shoulders as the trembling got louder. "Henry! Get away from the wall!"Henry's eyes widened, realizing that the ground was shaking, and started running the opposite direction. Brooklyn tried to follow him, but the quake and the rumbling sound triggered a ringing in her ears and her vision started blurring. She couldn't see where Henry ran when she suddenly felt a sharp pain on her head that caused her to drop to the ground.Meanwhile, Henry had stopped running to catch his breath and asked, "What was that?"He turned around, expecting to see his best friend right behind him, and it scared him when she wasn't. "Brooke?" Henry pointed his light towards the direction he came from, calling again. "Brooke? Brooklyn, where are you?"He had walked a few steps forward when he saw her figure collapse from a knelt position, and his eyes widened in fear. "Oh no,"Henry ran towards her and set his flashlight on the ground as he knelt beside her. "Brooke, Brooke, are you okay?"He got no response from her when he shook her lightly and it scared him. "Brooke, c' mon," He pleaded."HENRY?" He suddenly heard. "HENRY!"The boy lifted his head up in the direction of the voice, recognizing it. "Archie?!" Henry picked his flashlight up and flashed it towards the entrance, accidentally shining it on Archie's eyes. "You're here to help us!""Us, Henry?" Archie asked him, confused, as he recovered from momentary blindness. "Who's with you?""Brooklyn, but I don't think she's awake," He admitted."What?" Archie quickly rushed to the boy and knelt Henry and Brooklyn. He rested Brooklyn's head on his lap and checked her pulse. It was beating fine, but he soon realized that the back of her head was bleeding. He quickly pulled out the handkerchief from his pocket and held it against the spot."I-is she gonna be okay?" Henry asked worriedly."Yeah, she's gonna be fine. We just gotta get out of here, okay?" Archie said, trying to comfort him.Henry sighed and nodded in agreement, choosing to give up his mission of finding evidence for his best friend, but as he turned his head towards where the entrance was supposed to be, all he saw was darkness.The boy gulped. "Archie? The entrance...,"The man confirmed his thoughts, saying, "Yeah, Henry. We're trapped underground in an abandoned mine, Brooklyn's unconscious and there is no way out,"
It was a busy market day in town, which meant it was easier to steal. People were shouting at each other, trying to sell their things as a cloaked figure tried her best to squeeze through the crowd. Brooklyn had all her belongings in her sack with her weapons slung behind her back underneath her brown cloak.

The teenager felt ambitious, so she went straight for some nobleman's bag of gold and shoved it in her sack.

"Hey!" She heard as she sprinted through the crowd. "Hey, get back here!"

It wasn't long till the guards in the area realized what happened, and she heard footsteps chasing after her.

"Hey, you!" The guards shouted at her. "The one in the hood!"

Brooklyn ran faster, trying to lose them in the crowd, but the men were persistent. People's screams of surprise and fear were heard as they pushed their way through. As Brooklyn neared the woods, shots were fired, telling her that they had guns.
"Shit," Brooklyn cursed under her breath. 'Today definitely isn't a lucky day.' she thought.
She kept running, dodging trees and stray logs hoping the cloak will help her blend in. The guards aimed their fire straight ahead, but the bullets kept missing their target. The gunshots worried the hunter, and the guards were getting closer.

"Stop right there!" She heard the shots and their voices getting louder. A bullet managed to hit her right leg, and the teenager gasped in shock as the pain shot through.
Brooklyn's eyes shot open from the sudden pain of the dream before she felt her head throbbing."Brooklyn, you're awake!" Henry said, to which she replied, "Yeah, kid, I am. Why does my head hurt really bad?""You were hit by a rock when the mine started crumbling," Archie replied.The teenager recognized his voice immediately and she was confused as to why he was suddenly there. "Archie?"The said man helped her up and she leaned onto him as she held the cloth against her head. "What are you doing down here?" She asked him."I came to look for Henry, but I went in when the ground started shaking,"As if by coincidence, the ground started shaking again and Archie held her tightly as Henry clung onto his babysitter. The three were left cautious when the shaking stopped. Everything was silent for a while until their ears perked up at the sound of barking."Do you guys hear that?" Archie asked.Henry nodded and said, "It's Pongo,""Follow the noise," Archie told them, and Henry ran ahead of Brooklyn and Archie deeper into the mine.Brooklyn let go of Archie when she saw a sheet of metal. "Here! It's louder over here,"She removed the metal easily to reveal a contraption behind it, and Henry looked at it curiously, asking, "What's this?"Archie caught up with the two and said, "It's like an old elevator- a mine shaft to get the mineworkers in and out,""That's why we can hear Pongo," Brooklyn said. "The top part is open,""Can we make it work?" Henry asked.The teenager shrugged and stepped inside, holding the wheel with her free hand. "Well, let's give it a shot,"She started turning the wheel counter-clockwise with her one arm, and the contraption lifted off the ground. Henry grinned as it creaked, while Archie's eyes widened at the girl's arm strength.Both of them stepped inside and started turning the wheel with Brooklyn, and they soon managed to get the elevator up by more than a foot when another quake started happening. Brooklyn instinctively wrapped her arms around Henry as Archie wrapped his around the both of them, and the elevator dropped back to phase one, causing all of them to lose their balance.The throbbing in Brooklyn's head suddenly became more unbearable and she lost consciousness, Archie catching her just in time.
Brooklyn kept on running despite the pain. Another bullet nicked her right shoulder, causing her to groan as her steps faltered.

Suddenly, she got pulled into the bushes to her left. The sudden force combined with all the pain disoriented her- all she could hear were the guards coming closer. The person who grabbed her shushed her and held her tight to make sure she didn't make a sound, but Brooklyn couldn't see who was beneath the black hood.

Her heart was pounding in her ears as the person stood up, "Come on, let's get out of here,"

"Wh-what?" Brooklyn said, limping from the pain as she was pulled up.

"Let's go! They're going to find you soon," Brooklyn managed to see the boy's face, and he had an accent as he spoke with urgency.

He took something out of his pocket and threw it on the ground. Brooklyn watched as the light started to flicker and created some sort of hole.

"What is that?!" Brooklyn was hesitant with the energy coming out of the hole, but both of them heard yelling from afar.

"OVER THERE!!" The guards had heard the commotion and started running towards the light.

"A portal. Now, there's no time," The boy held Brooklyn by her uninjured arm and jumped, pulling her in with him.
"Brooklyn, please wake up. Brooke?" Henry pleaded, softly shaking the girl's shoulder.Her eyes peered open, relieving Henry as he said, "Brooke, are you okay?"The teenager blinked a couple of times before telling him, "I'm fine, kid. Don't worry about me. The impact just..., shook me up a bit,"Brooklyn sat up and leaned back against the elevator as Henry and Archie adjusted themselves to a more comfortable position. It was then the teenager noticed the cut Archie had gained from the fall. She adjusted the handkerchief against her head and gulped back a wave of dizziness."I'm really, really, really sorry," Henry sighed, apologizing to the teenager and the man in front of him."It's alright," Archie told him with a slight nod."I just wanted to find proof," Henry explained. "I didn't mean to put both of you through all this trouble,"Brooklyn placed her hand on his arm and he scooted closer to her as she said, "No, it's really alright, Henry,"She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and leaned onto him as she tried to fight off the pain in her head. Archie started talking to Henry as Brooklyn's consciousness was fading.
The two hooded teenagers fell onto the sand as the portal above them closed. The boy immediately stood up, taking the hood off his head, and helped Brooklyn up.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up,"

Brooklyn couldn't move an inch as he started walking a few paces forward. He looked back upon realizing she didn't follow him and his eyes widened when he saw how bad she was bleeding.

He managed to catch her just as she dropped to the ground. Brooklyn wrapped her arms around his neck on instinct and mustered up a few words with whatever energy she had left.
Brooklyn woke up mid-dream just as the elevator shook again. She noticed Henry brushing off loose pebbles that managed to fall on his jacket before her eyes shut again.
Brooklyn groaned, eyes opening slowly to find herself on a bed. As the events from the day started coming back to her, she quickly checked her arm to find it as good as new. The girl scrunched up her eyebrows and checked her right leg.

No blood, no scratch, no pain. It was like nothing happened.
She got up with ease and looked around the room. "Room" felt like an understatement when she caught a glimpse of the window view and a balcony.
She was in a treehouse.

Brooklyn walked over to the desk where her things and cloak were laid neatly. Her bow and quiver were leaning against the wall beside it.

The teenager heard footsteps from outside and she immediately armed her bow, aiming it at the door.

The boy from earlier came in and his hands immediately went up, saying, "Woah, no need for that. It's just me,"

Brooklyn recognized his face and lowered her bow with a sigh. "Sorry, just...," She shook her head, dismissing the thought.

"I'm Peter Pan. No need to worry, love," The boy said, letting his hands drop as he walked towards her. "How're you feeling? I brought you here when you passed out,"

"I don't know how you did it, but it's like nothing bad happened," She said. "What is this place anyway?"

"My treehouse," Peter said simply.

Brooklyn raised her brow. "I got that part figured out," She said, walking towards the tree house's balcony and taking in the view. "I meant, where did your... 
portal
 take us?"

"Neverland,"
Brooklyn felt someone shaking her arm followed by debris falling on her."Brooke, wake up," It was Henry. "Brooke,"The said girl slowly opened her eyes, nodding, "I'm awake,"She then noticed a light along with pebbles falling from above and asked, "What's that?"The two boys looked up and Archie helped her up as he said, "It's a rescue,""You guys okay?" Emma called down as she held onto her harness."Henry's fine, but Brooklyn's bleeding badly," Archie answered her.Emma took the top off the elevator, saying, "Give me Brooklyn first,""No," Brooklyn objected. "Take Henry first."Emma was about to insist when the teenager felt the sides of the contraption shake a bit. "Just take him! We don't have all day,"Archie lifted Henry up to Emma and the shaking started getting harder. "It's gonna fall!" Archie said"I'm sorry!" Emma said, her hands were obviously full already and there was nothing she could do."It's okay," Brooklyn told her.It was then she noticed Archie quickly hooking his umbrella onto Emma's harness. She immediately wrapped her arms around his torso, letting go of the handkerchief completely."ARCHIE! BROOKLYN!"Both Emma and Henry yelled, but they both smiled and Emma laughed with relief when they realized that they had hooked themselves onto the harness with the umbrella."Not complaining and thank god for that umbrella," Brooklyn said, more than relieved. "But Archibald Hopper, why are you carrying an umbrella around in daylight?!"Archie, Emma and Henry only laughed at the brunette as the blonde tugged at the harness to be pulled up. Emma heaved herself to the ground after Henry was swept by Regina, Archie was greeted by Marco and Brooklyn was immediately helped by Ruby, who led her to the ambulance that was present.Brooklyn came back to the mines later that night after a quick fix to her head. It was nothing but a few stitches on her head, but nothing too major.She walked over to Henry and Emma and ruffled Henry's hair as she sat down beside him."Brooke," Henry said, hugging her. "I'm really, really sorry,"She hugged him back tightly, saying, "It's okay, kiddo, I'm okay. You didn't mean to do it, and plus," She pulled back from the hug with a smile. "What's life without a little adventure?"Henry pulled back and said, "You know, that's something The Legend would say,""Now that's something I would say," The teenager corrected him. "Just Brooklyn Jones,""Then why do you have The Legend written on your necklace?" He insisted."It's a callsign, kid," She explained. "It's a kind of codename that pilots use,""No, it's not just that," He protested. "It's there because you are her. You may not remember it now, but you are Brooklyn Jones—The Legend, the fearless archer who was taken by Peter Pan from the real world. You two fell in love in Neverland, but then you had to be taken away from there, so you were brought to the Enchanted Forest, where you helped the fairy tale characters get their happy ending, and I know that you are going to get your happy ending back too,"Brooklyn sighed, placing both of her hands on his arms. "Henry, I'm honored that you think that I'm as awesome as her, or even had a life as adventurous as she did, but —,"She was cut off as he said, "You did and you are as awesome as she is! Look, you just survived today. That isn't small. You just have to remember,"Thinking of something fast, the teenager stood up and said, "I can't promise you I'll remember, but I'll try my best to be at half the person she is, for you okay?"The boy grinned. "You'll remember soon, I promise,""Brooklyn, how's your head?" Emma asked her, to which she replied, "Not bleeding anymore. Gentlemen,"Emma and Henry turned to see Marco and Archie looking at them, which was why Brooklyn acknowledged them."Archie, you haven't answered my question," Brooklyn said, and the man laughed and said, "Well, the umbrella is my good luck charm,""Come on, Henry, your mom wants to take you home," The blonde woman started getting up, but Henry stopped her, saying, "Hey... Listen,"Everyone paused for a moment and Archie pointed it out. "Crickets,""They're back," Henry smiled, turning to Emma. "Things are changing,"

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"HOW ARE YOU feeling?" Mary-Margaret asked Brooklyn as the teenager prepared breakfast for herself."I'm fine, I promise," Brooklyn said yet again to Mary-Margaret as she set her plate on the table. Just as they moved her things out of the apartment for Emma officially, Mary-Margaret had insisted that Brooklyn stay with them again. At first, she thought it was the I'll-Miss-You stage, but she quickly found out that while the doctors told her the stitches weren't anything major, they had contacted Mary-Margaret, being her legal guardian, about the actual state."Sorry," Mary-Margaret apologized, realizing that she was being a bit too pokey about the situation. "The doctors just told me to check on you every once in a while," "You can check on me again later today," Brooklyn told her as the woman sipped her coffee. "The stitches are holding up," She took a bite of her pancakes then swapped the topic, saying, "Enough about me now. What's going on with you and David?""What about him?" Mary-Margaret asked innocently.The teenager simply gave her another look that said, "You know what I'm talking about,"Mary-Margaret simply sighed and slouched on her seat. "I wish it was that easy to talk about,""Things are easy to talk about when you're passionate about them," Brooklyn told her.Ever since they found him by the Toll Bridge, Brooklyn had noticed all Mary-Margaret was occupied with was David Nolan.Mary-Margaret's eyes widened as she denied it. "I'm not passionate!"Brooklyn shot her a doubtful look and the short-haired woman blinked a few times before surrendering, "Okay, I'm just..., concerned for him. That's all,"The brunette nodded her head as she took another bite out of her pancakes and said, "Mhm, keep telling yourself that,"
"They don't know what she did to me," The Evil Queen sneered at the mirror on her vanity, referring to her stepdaughter. "We must be delicate in this next phase. Her demise must be handled with care," She stood up and walked towards the exit.

"Perhaps one of your knights, your Majesty," The Magic Mirror suggested, appearing on one of her other mirrors.

"No, I need someone adept at murder — bereft of mercy," She said, a determined look in her eyes.

"Someone with no heart," He stated.

The woman tilted her head, saying, "Now you understand,"

"There's news of a girl who steals and kills as she pleases," The Magic Mirror told her. "They call her The Legend, and she's already feared by the townspeople,"

A scowl appeared on the Queen's face as the mirror showed her an image of the girl. Her face couldn't be seen past the hood and a bow is slung across her shoulders with the hilt of a sword peeking through her brown cloak.

"No, not her," The woman said without hesitation.

Realizing how quickly she spoke, she regained her composure, thinking of a more reasonable response. "If her reputation is spreading quickly, it's only a matter of time before accusations point to her,"

"Well, in that case," The Magic Mirror discarded the image, showing his face again. "You need a huntsman,"
Brooklyn came into Granny's later that day and sat down on her usual seat. Ruby walked out of the kitchen, her streaked hair in a side pony, and took notice of her friend. "Brooklyn, how's yo—,"The said girl immediately cut her off with a glare. "Ruby, I swear if you finish that sentence, I'm telling Granny about you texting on the job,"Ruby's mouth gaped at the sudden outburst and tried to replace my words. "Just want to check on my friend," She told her as the brunette rested her head on her hand."Sorry," Brooklyn muttered. "I didn't mean that," Ruby shook her head and said, "It's fine. We all have our off-days. You back on your shifts?" "Once Mary-Margaret lets me," Brooklyn grumbled. "Apparently, the doctors didn't tell me the whole truth about my head, so now I'm kinda grounded with what I can do until I'm better," "That wouldn't stop you before," Ruby pointed out.It was true. Brooklyn was a handful to Mary-Margaret in the past, being the stubborn, rebellious teenager she was."She didn't have an apartment rent to threaten me with before," Brooklyn groaned. "She's being such a mom!""She is your guardian," Ruby pointed out."Going to work isn't going to kill me," Brooklyn muttered.Ruby simply sighed at the reply. "Just give it time, Brooklyn. She's worried about you, that's all,"
Brooklyn sharpened her knives as she sat on a branch. Her back was leaning against the bark, and she had a calm expression on her face, which was not covered by her hood. She just didn't feel like stealing or causing any trouble that day.

Just as she finished the last knife, the bushes nearby rustled, and she perked up to check if someone was coming. The archer looked down from where she was seated to see a huntsman aiming his bow at an unsuspecting stag in front of him, before getting a clean shot at it.

The man knelt beside his kill and murmured, "You have died so that I may live. Forgive me. Your sacrifice is honorable," He paused, taking a deep breath as a tear fell to the soil. "Thank you,"

Brooklyn saw a white wolf approach the Huntsman, and he looked at it, saying, "Don't worry boy, you won't go hungry tonight,"

The archer raised her brows and let out a slight chuckle, amused at what she was seeing.

She put her hood up to her head and leaped down from her branch, landing on her feet with a thud.

This startled the Huntsman, who turned around sharply and immediately armed his bow with a vigilant eye. "Who are you?"

"You don't need to know that," The girl answered.

The man tightened his grip on his bow, trying to see her face clearly. "What do you want?"

Brooklyn noticed his tense position and scoffed, "Oh please, save your arrows for other things. I'm not here to attack you; I was just curious about what you were doing,"

The huntsman tilted his head, asking, "What? Never seen anyone kill?"

The question made the archer laugh. "You have

no

idea,

Huntsman

. I've never seen anyone cry over his kill before,"

"It's called honoring," He told her.

He let go of the arrow, straight at the archer.

Brooklyn saw this coming, having noticed the man never let his guard down, and caught the arrow before it hit her. The huntsman's eyes widened and took a step back.

The archer simply smirked at him and cocked her head slightly as she said, "Word of advice: know who you're up against before attacking them,"

She tossed the arrow on the ground with the tip embedding itself through the soil and disappeared in the opposite direction.
"Just give it time,"  Ruby's advice repeated itself in Brooklyn's head for the billionth time."I can do that," Brooklyn thought, trudging through the woods with her bow in hand. "Just give me a couple of years, two decades — maybe three."The teenager was currently looking for a decent spot to clear her head and let out her frustrations when she bumped into someone, and her heart nearly skipped a beat when she realized it was Graham."Graham," Brooklyn gasped, trying to hide the bow behind her although she knew it was useless.The sheriff only narrowed his eyes at the teenager, clearly still in his daze as she braced herself for his "You shouldn't be here" speech.Instead, he asked, "Jordan, how long have we known each other for?"The question took the girl back, confused by why he was asking her such, but she answered him anyway. "Since you first arrested me for stealing. When you first called me Jordan, and Madame Mayor was too interested in my dog tag. Why?""Have we met before that?" He asked.Brooklyn thought about it for a moment before answering, "No, I don't think so,""So I haven't tried to hurt you before then?" He pressed. "With that thing?" He pointed at the girl's bow, causing her to look at it then back at him weirdly.It surprised her that the sheriff wasn't concerned at the fact that she owned a weapon and was holding it in front of him."Graham, what's going on?" Brooklyn asked him as she noticed the frantic and perplexed look in the man's eyes."Do you believe in other lives? Like past lives?"The teenager sighed at the question. "This sounds familiar. Have you been talking to Henry?""I'm sorry. Henry?" Graham repeated, clearly lost."Yeah, he has this book of fairytales and he says we're all characters from there," She explained. "He says that we come from another land and that we've forgotten who we really are,"The man looked at the ground, nodding his head while taking it all in. "Oh,""Graham, are you feeling okay?" She walked towards him with an unusual sense of empathy for the man.His head snapped up as if he woke up from something. "Yeah, of course. I'll head right back now, just needed to clear my head. I'm sorry if I disturbed you,"All Brooklyn could do was nod her head as he walked past her and back into town.
"Ready or not, here I come, Cookie!"

Brooklyn clasped her hands over her mouth to silence her giggles. Her legs were curled in an attempt to squish herself into a crevice she found carved onto a large tree.

She could tell Dad was over exaggerating every single movement he was making even without looking at him, saying silly things like:

"Am I getting warmer?" A pause followed by, "No..., colder?"

"I... FOUND YA!" A grumble as he muttered. "Nope..., nope, not yet,"

The giggles doubled at the thought of Dad not being able to find here right away as he said, "Hmm..., Where would my little hunter be hiding? Already tried the shed and inside the house... Maybe back in the house again, I still haven't checked the rooms,"

Brooklyn heard the back door swing open and close itself, indicating Dad went back inside. She took the opportunity to let out the laughs she had been containing and stretched her legs out of the crevice. All she felt was pure bliss at her victory- she has finally outsmarted Dad in his own game.

"Brooklyn, honey, snacks are ready!"

The child's ears immediately perked up at the sound of snacks. Almost forgetting about the game, I jumped out of her hiding spot and ran towards the house. Just as she was about to reach for the handle, Brooklyn squealed as two arms wrapped around her waist from behind and twirled her around.

"

GOTCHA!

"  Dad exclaimed. "I win, Brookie-Cookie,"
The teenager groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, and she sighed as she realized that she fell asleep in the woods again.It saddened her that her dreams were the only place where she could see her parents again, but it relieved her that they were the ones she saw, not the alter ego of her she had started dreaming of since she came back from Boston."When did your flashes begin?" Henry asked Graham, who was sitting beside him."Right after I kissed Emma," He stated casually, forgetting that he was talking to her son.Henry's face twisted in distaste. "You kissed my mom?"The man gave him a look, implying that that wasn't the point, so the boy shrugged it off as he looked back at his Once Upon A Time book. "What did you see?""A wolf," Graham looked at the ground, trying to remember the visions. "At first I was holding a bow, and I was with a girl in a hood. Then, I had a knife in my hand and I was with Mary-Margaret,""Were you about to hurt both of them?" Henry asked, making Graham turn to him and exclaim, "Yes! How'd you know that?"The boy flipped through the pages, explaining to the surprised man beside him. "Because Mary-Margaret is Snow White, which makes you the Huntsman,""Who was the other girl then?" Graham asked."The only other person you've encountered in the woods was," Henry flipped a few pages back. "The Legend. She's the girl under the hood,""The Legend?" Graham repeated, trying to connect the dots. "Is that who Jordan is?"Henry furrowed his brows, "Who?"Graham shook his head, correcting himself, "Sorry, Brooklyn. I meant Brooklyn,""Ohh," Henry said, his jaw dropping as he realized that he was referring to her favorite jacket. It had the name Jordan on it. "Yeah, that's her,""So you really think that I could be another person?" Graham looked at Henry, trying to weigh the credibility of his explanation."Makes total sense," He stated. "You were raised by wolves; that's why you keep seeing one. It's your friend, your guide. It's trying to help you,"Graham shook his head. "I'm remembering this because I kissed your mother?" He asked, not convinced for a moment. "H-How is that possible?""Well, you two do have a special connection," Henry told him. "She owes you her life,""How?"To this, the boy replied, "Snow White is her mother, and you spared her. If you hadn't, my mom wouldn't have been born,""What happened after I spared Snow White?" The man wasn't quite getting an answer he needed just yet."The Queen took your heart — she ripped it out," Henry continued. "It's kind of her thing. She never wanted you to feel ever again,"Graham blinked a few times, taking it in before saying, "Let me see the book," Henry gave it to him and he turned to the next page to see a familiar symbol on top of a structure. "What's that? I saw that too. The wolf was howling at it,""That's her vault. That's where she put your heart," Henry explained."The wolf wants me to find it," The gears were turning in Graham's head, and to him, everything was starting to make sense. He handed the book back to Henry and said, "Thank you, Henry,"He ran out the door as a smile found itself on the boy's face. He knew the sheriff was starting to believe, and he was glad someone believed him.
Snow White dashed through the forest, clutching onto the makeshift whistle the man had given her. He could've — should've — killed her when she surrendered, but instead he showed her mercy.

The young princess suddenly tripped on her dress, causing her to roll down the dirt path and let go of the whistle in the process. Snow groaned in pain and pushed herself up, but her eyes widened when she saw an arrow pointed right at her. She immediately held her hands up in surrender.

"Wh-who are you?" Snow stuttered to the girl in front of her. She noticed the cloak on her back and the array of blades hanging from her belt.

"Depends why you ask," The latter tilted her head, a guarded look in her eyes as she examined the princess who made quite an entrance.

"Look, I mean no harm. I was running from one of the queen's men who she assigned to kill me, but then he didn't. He told me to run and —,"

"Okay, I get it. I won't hurt you," The archer snapped, cutting Snow off. "So quit your babbling," She lowered her bow and returned the arrow into the quiver.

"You weren't sent to kill me?" Snow asked, stunned.

Brooklyn looked at her in the eye before asking, "Why would I be sent to kill you? Who are you?"

It then dawned on the princess that this girl in front of her was most probably new in the kingdom.

"I'm Snow," She answered truthfully.

"Do you have somewhere to get to, Snow?" The archer asked.

"Not right now, I don't," Snow told her, to which Brooklyn replied, "Come on then, you look like you need help,"

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

BROOKLYN PUSHED THE door to Mary-Margaret's loft begrudgingly to be greeted by loud music blaring from the kitchen.The teenager narrowed her eyes at Emma, who was prying a toaster open with a screwdriver. "Emma, what the hell did that toaster ever do to you?" She asked incredulously.The blonde looked up, startled, and turned off the music. "Brooklyn...," She stammered, waving the screwdriver around. "I-I just needed to hit something," Brooklyn didn't bother, but she felt her blood boil when her eyes landed on the half-empty bottle beside Emma. She immediately pointed at it and said, "That bottle wasn't for you,"Emma set the screwdriver on the counter and shrugged, "I'm sure Mary-Margaret wouldn't mind. I'll just buy her another one."Brooklyn narrowed her eyes before stalking over and grabbing the whiskey bottle. "This isn't Mary-Margaret's. Don't assume everything in this loft is hers just because she's the only other adult living here."She took a swig from the whiskey, shocking Emma and the woman said, "You aren't old enough to drink yet,"Brooklyn gave her a look and retorted, "You aren't my guardian,"Emma straightened her posture as she corrected the teenager, "No, I'm the deputy sheriff."Brooklyn's face twisted as she took another sip of the whiskey and said, "But here I am thinking you aren't anymore,"Emma knew Brooklyn was right, but she simply stared the teenager down with a straight face.The girl took that as the woman's sign of defeat, and she raised the bottle up mockingly, saying, "Cheers..., to our own personal defeats," Brooklyn headed up to her room in the loft. It had been two weeks since she started staying with her guardian again, but as much as she wanted to enjoy the company, the dreams she was having were getting more frequent.They ranged from fights in the woods to killings in the villages. It was like an alter ego of Brooklyn's and the dreams gave her terrible headaches or heavy feelings in her chest and stomach, which soon resulted in her turning to alcohol for help for the past week.While she was able to successfully hide it from Mary-Margaret, she was still finding a way to deal with the new blonde roommate.Emma was simply looking out for Henry's best friend, but it seemed to her that Brooklyn wasn't accepting any of it.The woman stared at the stairs where Brooklyn had run up when she heard a knock at the door, opening it to find Mr. Gold with a rather large binder in his hands.
The tavern was full of cans cluttering and men cheering over bottles of alcohol as Brooklyn came in unnoticed. Her hood was up, and her bow was slung across her shoulders.

She dropped a few silver coins on the counter in front of the bartender, and the man slid her a cup. The archer plopped her bag beside her seat as she downed the drink, elbows resting on the table when a heavy hand grabbed her shoulder.

"You're in my seat, mate," He growled with a heavy accent. He was buff and by the looks of it, he was feared in the tavern.

Unfazed, Brooklyn casually set her cup down on the table. She slowly turned to face the man. Her face was bored as she sarcastically said, "I didn't notice the word

bastard

written on the chair when I arrived,"

This angered the man, who's eyes darkened as he grabbed her by the wrist. "I don't think you know who you're dealing with, mate,"

The archer simply responded by kicking the man on the crotch, which caused him to double over in pain and let go of her arm. Before he could even make a move, she got off the chair and punched him on the face so hard he fell on the ground.

The whole bar was silent upon seeing this man get stood up by the unknown person in the hood. Brooklyn could hear the whispers as the men asked each other who was underneath it.

She simply ignored them as the man stared up the hood, dumbfounded. It was a girl beneath the hood.

"I think

you

are the one who doesn't know who he's dealing with," She snarled at him, taking her bag and leaving the tavern with all eyes on her.

With one particular set belonging to a one-handed pirate.
Brooklyn was working her shift in Granny's the next morning, serving orders left and right. Mary-Margaret finally let her get back to work.She had set the last order down before she headed to a particular booth where Henry was sitting with a newspaper in hand. "Hey kid, what'cha reading?" She asked.The boy looked up at his best friend and shook his head, uttering, "It's nothing,"The teenager didn't buy it, so she looked at the cover of the newspaper and read the headline: Ex-Jailbird Emma Swan Birthed Babe Behind Bars by Sidney Glass.Brooklyn sighed and said, "I'll talk to your mom about this,""It's okay, Brooke. I'll sort this with Emma," Henry told her."I meant your other mom," Brooklyn clarified.He shook his head at her. "No, Brooke. You don't need to interfere with this,"The boy knew very well what was going on between his moms and didn't know what would happen if The Legend joined the fight.The teenager simply sighed and gave him a small smile. "If you say so, kiddo,"She knew that it was probably better that she stayed away anyway. The alcohol and the headaches combined made her snap and lose her temper more often, and she didn't want to do anything that would worsen the rivalry between Regina and Emma and in the end hurt Henry even more.Later that night, Henry ran towards the town hall with Brooklyn not far behind him. They were both hanging out at Granny's when they heard fire trucks heading that way, and the boy wanted to check on Regina and Emma, who he knew were both there.Henry let go of Brooklyn's hand and ran to a group of firefighters on the scene as Regina was helped onto a stretcher. "Did Emma really rescue my mom?"The brunette walked away from the commotion as she felt another headache coming just when Mary-Margaret, Ruby, and a bunch of other people surrounded Henry and Emma. She sat down on the sidewalk and closed her eyes as she buried her head in her hands, taking deep breaths.The alcohol was getting to her, but it was a smaller problem compared to what she's been experiencing for the past weeks.Aside from the visions, which were only getting more realistic, more gruesome, and more confusing each day, the events that were springing left and right in the quiet town were starting to weird her out. From that day with John Doe, the fiasco with Ashley, the mining accident then Graham's death, things were just happening left and right that Brooklyn had a hard time wrapping her head around.Not to mention the even bigger problems that were being shoved on her face: Henry and his two mothers, who at the moment, were having a rivalry for the now-vacant Sheriff position, and Mary-Margaret and her budding romance with David Nolan.Then, for some unknown reason, she felt like she could find comfort in drinking alcohol.As if she's done it before."Congratulations," Brooklyn said, leaning against the railing of the loft as she addressed Emma. Along with getting back to her shifts, the teenager moved back to her apartment, leaving the upper half of the loft to Emma.The woman looked up from whatever she was doing and gave the teenager a smile. "Thanks,""So you stood up against Gold, huh?" She asked, her face twisting in distaste. "Never liked that man anyway,"Emma nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, I did. I didn't want to play foul in this election. That's not what good people do,"Brooklyn narrowed her eyes as she told the blonde, "You're starting to sound like Henry,"The woman laughed and simply shrugged. "Yeah, well, I kinda did it for him,"The teenager gave her a small smile in return and sat down across Emma on the bed. The now-sheriff faced her and brought up another topic, asking, "Do you mind if I ask about last night?"Brooklyn raised her brow up in confusion. "What about last night?""The whiskey," Emma reminded her. "Why'd you buy it?"Brooklyn paused. "Are you asking me as sheriff?" She asked, mimicking what Emma said that same night, except now she was actually sheriff."I'm asking as your roommate,"Brooklyn bit the inside of her cheek. It was an open door for talking about what was bothering her with the added bonus of getting along with the person she might be spending more time with—Henry's birth mother and her legal guardian's roommate."Doesn't hurt like the other things happening," She told her. "You told me about your troubled past, so I think you, of all people, should understand why,"Emma nodded, remembering the small talk she had with the teenager a few days ago. "I do, but that's because I had no one to talk to. You have a lot of people to talk to about what's bothering you. Mary-Margaret—,"Brooklyn scoffed, cutting her off. "Mary-Margaret? She may be my guardian, but right now she's more concerned with David Nolan rather than me. I doubt she's even noticed the alcohol the past week,"The blonde immediately understood based on her past experiences as a child and made a mental note to talk to Mary-Margaret about that before saying, "I understand that. Well, at least you have me to listen to you, and maybe solve it with you. So what's going on?"The teenager bit her lip and shook her head. "I'll leave that in the dark for now," She stood up to leave, but turned around at the last second, saying, "But thanks for the help,"
Brooklyn was wandering around, having newly-acquired goods in her bag when she found another tavern to visit. She never stayed in the same place for too long to make sure no one remembered her face, but she was certain several villages knew her name by now. The archer hung her head low as she approached the tavern's door when someone bump
ed
 her shoulder.

"Watch it," She spat at the man, not even bothering to look at his face as she proceeded inside.

The man, on the other hand, stopped at the voice and quickly held an arm out, stopping the hooded figure.

Brooklyn stiffened, ready to fight, as she sternly said, "Hands off,"

The man wasn't fazed, but his eyes widened when he saw who was beneath the hood. "Brooke?"

The brunette's eyes widened, recognizing his voice, but quickly replaced her shocked look with a glare as she lifted her head up.

"I said Hands. Off," She snarled.

"I want to talk," He told her, pulling her aside so they weren't blocking the entrance of the tavern.

"You must be new around here because I don't

talk

to

anyone

," She said impatiently.

The man sighed and said, "Right. All you do now is steal from anyone and kill whoever tries to get in your way,"

"Well,  it's always nice to make an impression," She smirked at him. "I'm glad my reputation precedes me,"

He shuddered at her use of the phrase, as it triggered a memory of his own.

"Now if you'll excuse me," She told him. "I've got a life to move on with and bastards I want to get away from,"

She turned towards the tavern but stopped in her tracks as the man said, "So is that what your life has become, Lass? Ruining others' lives and running from your own?"

Brooklyn faced the man with a look of impatience and irritation.

"You, of all people, should understand that,

Captain

," She sneered. "And since when did you care about me, Hook?"

The pirate couldn't find it in himself to fight the archer back with the same energy as he saw the pure rage in her eyes. "Since when have I not, Lass?"

Brooklyn didn't answer his question and simply turned her back on him and walked into the tavern, leaving Captain Hook unsettled.

The archer stared him down with no mercy in her eyes and spoke to him with so much hatred, fury, and sarcasm that he had never seen on her before.

It hurt him that she now hid under a hood. It hurt him that she now hid beneath a façade, behind a mask, in the shadows

It frightened him when he heard her use the same phrase the monster he despised had used against him.

She was hurting, but the walls were far too high and far too thick.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

HENRY WALKED OUT the door, ready for school when he noticed the stranger in front of his house tinkering with a motorcycle. He furrowed his eyebrows and being the curious child he was, he approached the man."What are you doing here?" He asked him.The man looked up from his task and stated, "Fixing my bike,""No, I mean in Storybrooke," Henry clarified."Just visiting," The man answered simply.The boy then noticed the huge wooden box that was mounted on the back of his motorbike and asked, "What's that?""A box,"Henry was not satisfied with the short answers the man kept giving him and kept asking questions. "What's inside it?""Just something I need to do what I came here for," The man told him as he put on his helmet and mounted the bike. Just then, Regina came out of the house to see her son talking to the stranger.The boy cocked his head, saying, "I thought you were just visiting?"The man started his bike as he said, "Doesn't mean I don't have something to do," He looked up to see clouds darken the already-gloomy morning and told the kid, "Better get to school. Looks like a storm's coming,"He rode off just as Regina reached Henry, putting her arm around her son as she asked, "Henry, who was that?"The boy simply shrugged.Brooklyn was walking to Granny's for her morning shift when her phone rang in her pocket. The teenager took it out and answered, "Hello?""Brooklyn, it's Regina. I need you to watch over Henry when he gets out of school. There's someone new in town, and he's taking particular interest on Henry,""Sure, will do, Madame Mayor," The teenager said over the line before hanging up. She opened the door to the diner and caught Ruby's attention behind the counter with the bell's ringing."Welcome back, Brooke," Ruby grinned.The girl frowned in response as she grabbed an apron from the counter. "Morning, Ruby,"Ruby narrowed her eyes at her friend and asked, "Something wrong?"The teenager raised an eyebrow at that. "What makes you say that?""Well, you smell like alcohol...," Ruby told her. "Maybe not really strong alcohol but I can tell you had a drink some time ago,""Can't I have a drink every now and then?" She asked her friend."Yeah, but it's different than what you usually smell like,"Brooklyn gave Ruby a weird look. "How long have you been smelling me, Ruby?"The said girl's eyes widened, having thought about what she said. "No, no, I don't mean it like that. It's really just... different. Can't I be concerned for my friend?""Well, it's nothing but a few drinks," Brooklyn reassured her. "Nothing to worry about,""Bad break-up?" Ruby asked, which earned her another look from the teenager. She gasped and said, "I knew it!"Brooklyn groaned, "Ruby..."Ruby just laughed and said, "Kidding,"Suddenly, Mary-Margaret rushed into the diner, quickly removing her gloves and placing a book on a table. Brooklyn raised a brow at her guardian as she then fixed her hair while looking at her reflection at the back of a spoon.The woman stopped abruptly, realizing what she was doing, and set the spoon down to glance at the clock.The teenager followed her gaze to see the clock read 7:15 and she sighed, knowing what was going on. The door swung open again and Mary-Margaret quickly grabbed a book as though she had been reading the entire time.David came in and Ruby handed him two cups of coffee, saying, "One cream and sugar, one black,"The man thanked her and turned around, noticing Mary-Margaret. "Good morning,"The school teacher looked up from her book and casually replied, "Morning!"David's eyes flashed with nervousness for a second before stuttering out, "I-I..., I should go. I'm going to be late for work,"Mary-Margaret perked up- too enthusiastically in Brooklyn's opinion. "Oh, the animal shelter, right? How's that going?""Well, the apes haven't taken over," David told her, and Mary-Margaret grinned as she added, "Yet,"This made David laugh as he said, "Not on my watch,"They held gazes with each other for a moment before David decided to leave. Brooklyn watched as Mary-Margaret's grin melted into a frown and watched David meet Kathryn in their car."This is making a volcano?" Emma asked her roommate, coming through the back door of the diner.Mary-Margaret looked at Emma in shock as she tried to explain herself, "I was-,"The blonde woman cut her off, saying, "I get it,""He comes here every morning at 7:15 AM to get coffee," Mary-Margaret admitted."For him and his wife," Emma added."I know, I know, I know," Mary-Margaret said. "I just like to... come here to see him,"Emma raised her eyebrows and said, "So you're a stalker?"Mary-Margaret sat up immediately, "No, not really,"Emma shot her a look, so she reworded it, saying, "Maybe a little bit. I mean, it's not like I'm following him. I just know that he spends his mornings with Kathryn, gets coffee, then drives to the animal shelter to start work at seven-thirty and then he's home around five,"Brooklyn, who was listening to their conversation, raised her eyebrows at her guardian's mastery of David's schedule, and sarcastically asked, "Is that all?"Her guardian, still in her daze, truthfully answered, "Thursdays — they pick up Chinese for dinner,"Emma noticed the teenager's eyes flash with hurt before facing Mary-Margaret as the woman said, "I can't get him out of my head,""I know," Emma told her, glancing at Brooklyn who was still listening intently. "Maybe the first step is not showing up here tomorrow,""Love's the worst. I wish there was a magic cure," Mary-Margaret said.Emma simply nodded her head. Meanwhile, Brooklyn felt as though she was punched in the gut and couldn't help but agree with what her guardian said.Later that afternoon, Brooklyn was walking in the forest, taking some time to think about herself. She didn't like admitting it, but the dreams were scaring her as they got more frequent and caused unusual pains in her.She wanted — needed — someone with her, to hold her and tell her everything was going to be fine, but she told herself it was a dream she couldn't reach.Her parents were dead. Graham, who was the one authoritative figure who grounded her and eventually assisted the adoption under Mary-Margaret, was dead. The aforementioned woman was too busy following around a once-comatose-married man around town to even notice her. Her new roommate, the Sheriff, was too caught up in rivalry with the mayor, whose son could only link everything to his fairytale theory.For what felt like the first time in a long time, Brooklyn was hit with a huge billboard that said Alone. She shoved her hands in her leather jacket's pocket, continuing down the paved path when she heard cooing by the side. Brooklyn listened intently, hearing it again, and followed the sound to find a dove trapped in plastic netting by a tree.She bent down and carefully picked up the bird, whispering, "Hey, how'd you manage to get yourself stuck here? Come on, it's going to be okay,"She stood up to get the bird somewhere safe when she suddenly bumped into Mary-Margaret. The woman shook her head lightly as if the teenager had snapped her out of her own thoughts and said, "Brooklyn, what are you doing here?"The teenager had the same stunned look on her face before she held the dove up. "I found this little fella. I'm bringing her to the animal shelter...," Brooklyn hesitated before asking, "Do you wanna come with?"Mary-Margaret thought about it for a second then nodded her head. "Sure,""Well, the good news is, no broken bones. She was just a little dehydrated, but I got her some fluids and she should be just fine," The vet informed Mary-Margaret. Brooklyn was seated on the couch in the shelter's front desk while David stood by the veterinarian."And the bad news?" Mary-Margaret asked the doctor."Well, this is a North Atlantic Dove—,"Brooklyn immediately perked up at the mention of the specimen and said, "They're migratory. If we don't get her back to her flock, she'll be alone forever,"The three adults stared at the teenager in surprise.The vet nodded and said, "Brooklyn's right. The alternative is that she'll heal, but she won't be happy here,"He gently placed the dove back in the cage and Brooklyn took it with newfound energy after he closed the cage's door, saying, "Well, we'll take our chances,""Thank you, Doctor," Mary-Margaret said."You're welcome," The vet replied with a smile. "Good luck,"The doctor proceeded to leave, and David quickly followed the two, saying, "There's a storm coming. You really shouldn't go out there,""Well, the storm's coming tomorrow," Mary-Margaret told him, and Brooklyn added, "If we wait, she could be lost forever- completely alone. No one deserves that,""Then let me drive you," David insisted, but Mary-Margaret objected with, "We don't need your help, David. We'll be fine,"The woman quickly followed Brooklyn out of the shelter, who left immediately to get the dove back to its home and to avoid the argument of the two.Brooklyn looked out her window as Mary-Margaret drove down the road when they suddenly stopped."Road closed," Mary-Margaret read. Brooklyn looked at the sign then up at the sky, which was getting darker."Well, the flock can't be much farther. We just have to beat the storm," She told her guardian. "She can't be alone. Her flock is waiting for her,"The teenager unbuckled her seatbelt and Mary-Margaret turned off the engine. The woman watched Brooklyn admiringly as she excitedly got out of the car."Do you hear that?" Brooklyn told the dove. "Your flock!"The teenager quickly ran to the edge of the road to see nothing but a dead end by a cliff, so she put the cage down to check whether she could make her way down the slope. Brooklyn barely managed to take a step forward when the ground beneath her gave out, causing her to scream as she tumbled down and clung to a branch."BROOKLYN?" Mary-Margaret yelled as her eyes widened. She darted to where the teen fell and took the alternative path down. "HANG ON, I'M COMING!""Mary-Margaret?" Brooklyn called out as she tried to pull herself up, which ended up weakening the branch even more. Her eyes widened as she yelled, "MARY-MARGARET?""Here, grab my hand!" The woman knelt down and reached her hand out for the girl, who did what she was told and held on tightly. Mary-Margaret tried to pull her up, but she wasn't strong enough and instead started slipping towards the cliff."Mary-Margaret!" Brooklyn cried out in fear for her guardian, when the woman suddenly felt someone grab onto her waist and say, "Hold onto each other!"The two did so and they were pulled back onto stable ground. Brooklyn hoisted herself up with a groan once the ground was within arm's length and she let go of Mary-Margaret's hand. The teenager wasn't surprised to see that David was their savior and simply rolled her eyes as Mary-Margaret started arguing with him again."They could be knocking at death's door and those two would still be busy arguing," She thought to herself as she climbed back up through the alternative route Mary-Margaret had used.She had picked up the dove in its cage when she heard her guardian ask, "Wait, where's Brooklyn?"The girl sighed and yelled, "ARE YOU TWO DONE YET?"Mary-Margaret sighed in relief and quickly ran back up to meet with the teenager, who said, "Come on, we need to get her back with her flock,""No, you can't do this now," David protested. "I came here to get to you two before you got hurt,"Mary-Margaret turned to him and said, "If Brooklyn wants to do this, we should let her,"Brooklyn rolled her eyes as the third argument of the day began and proceeded to walk away when the rain poured down. That didn't stop her and she trudged through the downpour when a hand stopped her. "Brooklyn, come on! It's not safe," Mary-Margaret shouted over the noise.The teenager faced her with a look of annoyance and said, "No, you go with your man. I'll find the flock myself,"Hurt flashed on Mary-Margaret's face as she realized how she neglected Brooklyn and said, "Now's not the time, we need to —,""Now's not the time?" Brooklyn cut her off. "Are you kidding? Now you say now's not the time? Did you even pause and think about that during all the times I needed you while you were out chasing a married man?!"Mary-Margaret's face fell, but she wasn't able to reply when David-who thankfully didn't hear their argument over the rain-interrupted, "There's no time to argue. Come on, let's get you two somewhere dry and safe,"
"I know a way out,"

Grumpy and Snow looked past their dungeon, startled at the voice, to see two figures emerge from the dark, covered head to toe.

The shorter one removed his mask and Grumpy recognized him immediately as he exclaimed, "Stealthy! How'd you get in here?"

The second figure proceeded to unsheath her sword and smash the other lock with the hilt of her sword, successfully breaking it.

"Found a friend who needed to get here too," He told his fellow dwarf as he fiddled with the keys, pointing to the other figure. "Knocked all the guards out cold. The rest are waiting outside,"

"Wait, wait, wait, there are more of you?" Brooklyn asked as she raised a brow at Stealthy.

"Brooklyn!" Snow exclaimed as she got out of the cell, immediately recognizing her voice, and the bow slung across her shoulders.

"I told you not to be so stupid, and now here you are," Brooklyn scolded her friend. "Come on, let's get out of here,"

Snow and Grumpy followed their friends through the tunnels but the archer stopped upon seeing something. "Here, the stairs will lead us out,"

"No," Stealthy objected. "We sneak through the courtyard,"

"No, it's safer if we crawl over the curtain wall," Brooklyn told the dwarf. "Trust me, hiding from royals is my life,"

"No, the courtyard is clear now," He argued, to which she simply countered, "It won't be for much longer,"

Snow and Grumpy shared a look while their partners fought before the latter shrugged, "Sorry, lady. Stealthy got me this far,"

The two dwarves then left Snow and Brooklyn behind and that's when the archer grumbled under her mask. "Shorty wouldn't have made it this far if it weren't for me,"

The dwarves made it out to the courtyard seemingly unnoticed, but King George appeared around the corner along with an army of guards.

"Halt!" A guard said. "Those two are prisoners,"

"Grumpy, run!" Stealthy whispered to his friend. "We can make it!"

He started running as Grumpy protested, "Stealthy, no!", but it was too late. A guard shot an arrow through the dwarf's chest and he immediately fell to the ground.

Grumpy knelt by his now-deceased friend and muttered "No! Stealthy...,"

"Where is the girl?" King George demanded, making his way to Grumpy.

The said dwarf looked up with a look of grief as he replied through gritted teeth, "What girl?"

The king simply stared him down with two words. "Kill him,"

A guard pulled his sword out, ready to follow orders, but as he drew the sword, Snow White spoke up. "Looking for me?"

All eyes turned to her to see her holding a torch. "Let him go, or...," She trailed off to see Brooklyn armed on one of the castle's bridges. "Or this place will burn and my friend will kill all of you one by one,"

She nodded towards the archer, which the latter took as a signal to shoot, releasing the arrow straight for the heart of the sniper that killed Stealthy.

The guards watched in fear, having heard of tales about this merciless archer around the kingdom, while King George looked up then back at Snow White who was dangerously dangling the torch near a pile of hay.

He kept a straight face to hide his own fear as he said, "Be gone, dwarf,"

Grumpy simply exchanged gazes with his new friend, who nodded her head. "Go Grumpy,"

Snow looked up at Brooklyn, who had another arrow ready to kill someone. "You too, Brooklyn,"
A knowing look passed the king's face with the thought, "So that's her name? This so-called Legend...," while the guards' mouths were slightly open with the thought, "He's a she?"
Meanwhile, the archer felt like killing herself with the arrow or stabbing herself with her favorite sword as she thought, "SNOW! YOU HAD ONE DAMN JOB! NOW EVERYONE KNOWS MY NAME!"
A guard kicked Grumpy, telling him to go, and the dwarf unwillingly ran away, leaving his friend, with the hooded archer trailing behind.David, Mary-Margaret, and Brooklyn were still caught in the storm, the man protectively wrapping his arms around Mary-Margaret while the teenager held onto the dove."There!" Brooklyn shouted over the thunder as she pointed at a cabin nearby. She darted towards it and the pair followed her.They reached the front door and Mary-Margaret checked the window, calling, "Hello? Hello, is anyone in there?"Brooklyn, who was beside her, said, "It's empty,"David managed to kick the door open and let the two girls in, closing the door behind them. Brooklyn knelt beside the fireplace and started a fire as David said to Mary-Margaret, "Let's get you dry,""Whose cabin is this?" Mary-Margaret asked. "Are you sure it's okay for us to be in here?""Well, you're roommates with the Sheriff, so I doubt she'll arrest us for breaking in and entering," David told her. "Here,"He placed a blanket over Mary-Margaret's shoulder, who shrugged it off, and Brooklyn commented, "Way to take advantage, John Doe,"The man gave her a look which she simply ignored as she finished tending the fire. Brooklyn sat in a corner of the cabin with the dove as Mary-Margaret kept talking to each other. She didn't like being in the same room as the two because it was awkward, but everything about their situation felt somehow familiar at the same time.The teenager sighed as she decided to take the dove out of its cage and pet it gently, leaning her head against the wall while she got lost in her own memories.
It was a quiet afternoon as the wind softly shook the trees. Nathan looked out the window to see his seven-year-old daughter sitting on the grass with her head resting on her knees, so he decided to join her.

"Hey, Cookie, you alright?" He asked her, crossing his legs as he sat beside her.

The little girl faced her father and said, "I miss her. I miss Mom,"

"Me too, Cookie. Me too," The man sighed, pulling his daughter closer. "But you know why you were named Natalie, right?"

The girl nodded, "Mhm, after you and Mom,"

"That's right, darling," He smiled sadly. "So you'll have both of us with you all the time,"

The father and daughter sat silently under the trees together. Brooklyn Natalie—after her parents Nathan and Alia...

The little girl didn't know it, her parents never told her, but both her father and mother were abandoned as children. They didn't want that for their daughter, so naming her after the both of them was like a promise... a promise that she would never be alone.

"Brooklyn, look over there!" Nathan suddenly said, nudging his daughter as he pointed up in the sky.

The girl followed her dad's finger to a flock of birds flying over them. "What are they, Dad?"

"Those are North Atlantic Doves," He told her. "Your mom loved those birds. You know, they say those birds have a special bond with one another. They move homes a lot, so they always fly together so no one gets lost or left behind,"

Brooklyn watched the birds as she said, "That's really nice,"

Her father saw how unhappy she still was, so he said, "You know what I like to think?"

His daughter looked at him expectantly. "What, Dad?"

"That your Mom finally found her way back to her flock, and is flying with them right now," He told her, pointing at the flock of doves now leaving their sight.

Brooklyn smiled at the thought. "So she's happy wherever she is right now,"

"Yeah," Her dad sighed. "And she'll come back every year to check on us,"
Brooklyn sighed as she continued petting the dove.She really missed her parents and the life she had with them.Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed a light illuminating the bird, and the teenager sat up straighter to see the sun shining outside."Hey, the rain stopped!" She exclaimed, putting the dove back in the cage and interrupting David and Mary-Margaret. "We need to get her out,"The dark-haired woman willingly followed the brunette out and David tried chasing after her, "Mary-Margaret... Mary-Margaret, please, can we at least talk-,"He was immediately shushed by Brooklyn who then said, "Listen,"The three kept quiet and listened, looking up to see several birds flying above them."The flock," Mary-Margaret said. "It didn't leave,""They must've been waiting for the storm to clear," David added, still staring at the birds.Brooklyn set the cage down and took the dove out, holding it out. She smiled as she whispered, "Okay, sweetie. Time to join your family. You can do it,"The teenager released the dove and it flew off to join its flock. She watched it with a sad smile on her face as she whispered, "Bye, Mom. See you soon,"Mary-Margaret kept her eyes on Brooklyn the whole time and it made her smile to see the teenager so happy about something so simple. Her thoughts were cut off by someone trying to reach for her hand."No, David," She told him, pulling her hand back as the man tried to reach for it. "It's too painful,""It doesn't have to be," David said. "We don't know if Kathryn's pregnant,"Mary-Margaret shook her head. "It doesn't matter. You chose her,""I know, but I still have feelings for you," David said."You can't have both," Mary-Margaret told him."But I do have both. I know... I know it doesn't make sense, but it's like I have these two conflicting lives. Memories of feelings for her and real feelings for you,"Brooklyn furrowed her eyebrows when she turned around to face the pair, hearing the last statement her guardian told David.
Snow White walked through the forest sadly after she broke Charming's and her heart.

"You okay, sister?" She heard Grumpy ask her. She turned around to see the other dwarves walking by him with their own lamps and amongst them, Brooklyn.

The tears came as she answered, "Not even close,"

"You didn't find him?" He asked.

"Worse," Snow told him. "I lost him,"

The group stopped walking when Snow turned to hug Brooklyn, who was beside her. The archer stiffened at the gesture, taken aback, but slowly hugged her friend back.

"Come on," Grumpy offered.

"Where are you taking us?" Snow asked him, pulling back from the hug.

"Home. We all lost someone today," Grumpy told her, then looked at the archer, whose face hid beneath her hood. Aside from the stories he's heard about her, he didn't know anything else about the Legendary Brooklyn Jones."Or at least once before,"

Brooklyn said nothing as Doc added, "Now we're seven,"

"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you," Grumpy said. "So you're coming home with us, Snow. Brooklyn, you can come too. You avenged Stealthy, so we're going to protect you —

both

of you,"

Snow shook her head."The only thing that needed protecting is destroyed—my heart,"

"It will get better," The archer told her.

Snow's eyes lit up and she reached for her pocket. "Yes, yes, it will, This will take all of my feelings, all of my pain, and destroy them,"

Brooklyn grabbed the potion from Snow and snapped, "No. I didn't mean it like that, Snow,"

"But why?" Snow demanded. "You, of all people, should understand. I know you've lost love, maybe more than once. What if your pain could be erased?"

Brooklyn clenched her fist around the vial, suddenly enraged. "First of all, you know

nothing

about me, princess, and second, I don't want my pain erased. As depressing and messed-up as it is, I need my pain. It makes me who I am,"

"It makes us all who we are today," Grumpy agreed. "Look around, Snow. You're not alone. I promise that's all the cure you need. If the pain's too much, you can always drink it, but for today, put it away," The dwarf took the vial from the archer and gave it back to the woman.

"Okay," Snow said. The group started heading towards the dwarves' cottage but Snow paused when she realized that her friend wasn't coming. "Brooklyn?"

"I'm going to get going," Brooklyn answered. "Do my own things. I'm not really into home-y and family things, but I'll see you around,"

She turned to leave but hesitated at the last minute. "And Snow,"

The said woman turned to face her.

"Please don't tell anyone else my name. It's the one thing I didn't want people to know,"

The woman nodded and said, "I'm so sorry about that,"

"There's nothing we can do about that now," The archer told her before disappearing into the dark.
Brooklyn handed Mary-Margaret her coffee the next morning at 7:45, which the woman thanked her for, as the teenager said, "You're half an hour later than usual,"Mary-Margaret sighed. "Yeah, just trying to avoid —,"She was cut off by the bell ringing, and she and Brooklyn turned to see David coming in, who stood there with a look of shock on his face before heading back outside.Mary-Margaret chased him out and Brooklyn groaned as she buried her face in her hands."Here they go again," She thought to herself.
Brooklyn rode a horse down to the dwarves' home and saw Grumpy outside tending some wood.

"Where's Snow? Where is she?" She asked, and the dwarf looked up at the grinning archer expectantly. "I have news,"

A few seconds later, Grumpy barged into the cottage, announcing, "Snow, the royal wedding! The kingdom's abuzz, it's off, Snow. He left her,"

"Snow?" Brooklyn said, following Grumpy. "Did you hear him? James left Abigail; your Prince Charming isn't getting married,"

The woman simply stared at the two, blankly, as she asked, "Who?"

That's when Brooklyn found the vial on the table beside the bed, now empty.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"OH, YOU GOT the book," Mary-Margaret exclaimed as she noticed David reading something new on the table beside her.David looked up from his book and replied, "Yeah, yeah, I just started it. It's great! I can't wait to see how it ends,"Brooklyn then walked over to Mary-Margaret's table to refill her coffee and said, "I can push the tables together, or one of you can just move-,"Mary-Margaret and David simultaneously shook their head in refusal. "No, no it's fine, Brooklyn," Mary-Margaret told her while David said, "No, it's...,"The teenager simply raised a brow at the two and held her free hand up in surrender. "Got it!"The pair shared a look and smiled at each other as Brooklyn walked back to the counter.Emma then came into the diner and smiled at David, "Hey David!" "Hey," David replied."Mary-Margaret, how's your day going?" She asked as she took a seat across the woman."Henry's fine," She replied, which earned her a look from the blonde."That's not what I asked you," Emma told her."That's what you want to know," Brooklyn piped in from behind the counter. "Henry's doing okay, but he misses you... a lot,"Mary-Margaret nodded in agreement. "But Regina won't keep you separated forever. When people are supposed to be together, they find a way,"She sneaked a glance at David towards the end and Brooklyn faked a gag, "You two are hopeless,""So he's...,"Brooklyn interrupted Emma by saying, "Trust me, Emma, I'm with him like six hours a day after school,""Six hours?" You take newborns?" Ashley piped in as she handed her daughter to Granny. "'Cause I'd love six hours,"The teenager shook her head apologetically as the new mother took a chair from another table."Ashley! I didn't... I didn't even recognize you!" Mary-Margaret said."Baby on the outside?" She asked and the dark-haired woman nodded."How's it going?" Brooklyn asked her."It's uh...," Ashley took a moment to settle down, taking a seat beside the two women. "I mean, baby's great, but we really haven't had time to do the whole 'getting married' thing so... that's been rough, and Sean's been working double shifts at the cannery,""On Valentine's Day?" Brooklyn asked her as she handed her a cup of coffee"Yeah, he couldn't get out of it," Ashley answered."I'm sorry. That sucks," Emma told her with a look of pity."It doesn't have to!" Ruby interrupted, joining the conversation as she walked over to their table. "Not with me. Let's have a girls' night! We can all go. Mary-Margaret, Brooklyn, Emma, too — if you promise to leave the badge at home,""I'm not really in the party mood," Emma told the red-head and Mary-Margaret gave her a disappointed look. "But you guys can all go and have fun,"Brooklyn raised her hand, saying, "I'm in!"Ruby grinned at her friend and walked away. Emma glanced at Brooklyn worriedly, knowing that the brunette was in it for the drinks, when her phone suddenly buzzed."What's that?" Mary-Margaret asked her.Still looking at her phone, Emma said, "It's the station. Something's up,"
Brooklyn leaned against the balcony in the treehouse, staring at a distance, when she suddenly heard, 
"Are you okay, Brooke?"

"Yeah," Brooklyn answered Peter and she sighed when he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Just thinking,"

"About what?" He asked.

She turned around and faced him, saying, "Why you saved me that day..." She sighed and shook her head. "What did you see in me that made me worth saving? As far as I'm concerned, all I did was get caught,"

Peter smiled at her and answered, "When I saw you running, my first instinct was to get you somewhere safe... but when I looked you in the eye, I saw someone who was forced to grow up," He tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear as he continued, "You were lost, so I figured you needed a chance to heal, and Neverland seemed like the perfect place for you,"

Brooklyn was at a loss of words and only smiled back at him as Peter leaned down and kissed her, holding her close.
Brooklyn held a box of chocolates for Henry in her hand as she patiently waited in line at the grocery. She was going to pick the ten-year-old up from school and give it to him as a Valentine's treat."Brooklyn?"The teenager turned around and saw Sean lined up behind her. She grinned and said, "Sean! Hey, it's been a while,""Sure has," The boy chuckled. "Hey, can I ask you a favor?"The brunette shrugged. Besides being Ashley's boyfriend, she had met Sean a while back while she was working in Granny's and he's been one of her few staple friends since. "Go ahead,""Will you happen to know where Ashley's going to be tonight? I have a little something for her and...," He trailed off and Brooklyn's eyes widened at the box he took out of his pocket.She nodded her head eagerly and said, "I'm all ears!"
"YOU'RE CRAZY, YOU KNOW THAT?" Brooklyn shouted at Peter, who was showing her around the island. "You're making me jump all the way down there?!"

Peter was already at the bottom as he said, "You climb trees all the time, love. It's not that bad."

Brooklyn shook her head, "HIGH GROUND AND TREES AREN'T THE SAME PETER!"

"I'll catch you," He told her, smiling as he holds his hands out. "It's a small leap of faith,"

"I think I'll be trusting Felix more than you after this," She muttered, finally jumping off the small cliff.

Peter caught her in his arms, but he lost his balance and the pair tumbled back.

Brooklyn groaned as Peter ended up on top of her and he grinned, "Not that bad, right?"

The archer responded by pushing him off playfully, "So much for catching me,"
"Pace yourself, Ash!" Brooklyn told the blonde as she watched her down another shot."I am!" She exclaimed. "This is my first night out since I've had the baby; I am making up for lost time," She downed another shot and the teenager laughed.Ruby then whistled beside them as she eyed a group of guys at the bar across their table. "Ooh, check out those guys,"Brooklyn raised a judgmental brow up at her friend, sipping her own drink, as Ashley said, "Oh, honey, I'm still with Sean,""You're not married," Ruby insisted. "And he's not here,""He's working," Ashley reminded."He's always working. Have fun moping!" Ruby told her before getting up with her drink and walking over to the group of men.Ashley sighed as she looked down on the table. "She's right. He is always working. I thought love would be different,"Mary-Margaret agreed and said, "Me too,"Brooklyn, on the other hand, smiled to herself and stood up. "Excuse me for a few minutes,"She darted for the door and patted herself on the shoulder for not wearing a dress that night as she ran for the store where she and Sean agreed to meet.
"What happened to you?" Felix laughed as he saw Brooklyn coming up to him.

Her cloak had a huge rip on the side, and the teenager was fuming.

"Your best friend's sanity needs to be checked," She grumbled, referring to Peter pulling a prank on her that morning, as she sat down on the ground.

Felix chuckled, aware of Peter's prank as she sat down beside her. "Well, you're my best friend so I think you need a double-check on your sanity,"

Felix poked her side and she grumbled, "Shut up, I meant your other best friend. Speaking of, where is Peter?"

"He's taking care of some business," Felix shrugged in reply.

The brunette sighed at this and slouched, "He's always taking care of business,"
The teenager stood behind David as she held a bouquet of roses in her hand and she leaned to the side to take a peek at his purchases, asking, "Who's the lucky lady?"David was startled at the question and turned around in surprise to see the brunette. "Brooklyn, I thought you were on a girls' night with Mary-Margaret," He then noticed the flowers she held and motioned at them. "Is that for a special someone?"Brooklyn shook her head and said, "Nah, doing a favor for a friend. You didn't answer my question," She pressed on as he took a step to leave, having finished paying.David sighed and looked at the two Valentine cards in his hands. "It's for the both of them," He answered her, knowing that she was aware of the drama happening between him and Mary-Margaret.Brooklyn gave him a look as she set the flowers in front of the cashier and told him, "Sounds like a recipe for disaster," She then took the receipt and walked out of the store, leaving David with that thought and bumping into Sean."Hey," Sean said, stopping the teenager. "You're here early,""You're just late," Brooklyn retorted. "You got everything you need?"Sean took the bouquet from the teenager and smiled, "Yeah, my boss dismissed me five minutes late. Thanks, Brooke,"He proceeded to hand her money for the flowers, but Brooklyn refused, saying, "No, take it as my Valentine's gift to you and your future wife,"She grinned at him and he chuckled nervously, "If she says yes,""Of course, she'll say yes!" She reassured him. "Now, come on!"Brooklyn grabbed him by the arm and pulled him with her to the restaurant.Brooklyn and Sean walked into the restaurant, with the teenager leading the boy to their table, and saw Mary-Margaret and Ashley still seated. Brooklyn grinned and nudged Sean in their direction, teasing, "Now or never, Seanie,"Sean gave her a nervous glance before heading to the girl's table. "Ashley," He mustered.The blonde didn't notice as she stood up and turned around, and her face was surprised to see her boyfriend in front of her. "Sean?""Hey," He smiled."I thought that you were working tonight," She asked."I am. It's my break and I had to see you," He told her as he handed her the roses. She took it, clearly still surprised that he was there. "And..., ask you something,"Sean got down on one knee and people nearby gasped as he popped the question, "Will you marry me?"Ashley kept looking at her boyfriend in shock, so Sean said, "I only have a twenty-minute break so, um... anytime now," He chuckled nervously and the blonde finally managed to snap out of it and nod eagerly, "Yes!"Everyone around them applauded the happy couple as Sean slipped the ring onto Ashley's finger. Brooklyn watched them hug with a smile on her face."My truck's outside if you want to take a ride before I head back to work," Sean told her. "It's not much of a date, but-,"Ashley cut him off, saying, "It's the best date," before pulling him in for a kiss.Sean held out his arm with a grin on his face. "Then your carriage awaits," Ashley looked back at Ruby and Mary-Margaret, who nodded excitedly for her and looped her arm with Sean's. Sean's eyes met Brooklyn's on the way out and he nodded in thanks with the grin still on his face.When the couple left the restaurant, Brooklyn walked back to their table to see a frown on Mary-Margaret's face. She approached the woman, noticing her actions, and said, "Hey, leaving already?"Mary-Margaret stopped and faced Brooklyn. "Where have you been?"Brooklyn shrugged, "Just helped someone out,"The woman tilted her head and a small smile made its way on her face. "You knew about the proposal, didn't you?"Brooklyn smirked and shrugged again. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't,"Mary-Margaret chuckled and said, "Well, I'll go ahead. Don't drink too much, Brooke,"The brunette only nodded and watched as the woman left rather quickly. Once she was out of earshot, Brooklyn sighed.She then proceeded to buy a bottle of whiskey for herself and left the restaurant with her hand in her pocket since she couldn't find Ruby.As she roamed the streets, she felt her stomach drop as she realized how alone she was on Valentine's Day. She never had a boyfriend for as long as she could remember, but it particularly hurt this year when she realized that she didn't even have a family to spend it with.It just felt like a pang to the chest since she had dreams that were reminding her of a life she shared with people she doesn't even remember.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"WHO ARE YOU?"

James demanded from the two hooded figures who captured him. One of them pulled out a dagger and James said, "What are you waiting for? Do you think I fear you?"

The figure then cut the ropes that bound his wrists, leaving the prince confused.

"Save your babbling for later, Your Highness," The voice told the prince from below the hood.

The figure stepped to the side and James was more confused to see Princess Abigail, his supposed fiancée walking towards him.

"Abigail?" He uttered in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to get my hands on you before your father ripped you to shreds," She replied.

"How did you know I was going —,"

Abigail cut him off with the answer she probably rehearsed many times. "Because I have ears in the King's court and despite everyone's best efforts to shield me from it, I know the truth. You love Snow White and you have no intention of marrying me"

"I won't marry someone I don't love, or give that despot the satisfaction that I helped him," James told Abigail. "If that means suffering the consequences, so be it"

"You're prepared to lay down your life. How charming," The princess commented. "But I didn't come here to see you die. I came here to help you escape,"

Still confused, James asked, "Why would you do anything to help me?"

"Because I don't want to marry you either," Abigail revealed.
Brooklyn plopped herself down on one of the bar stools at Granny's, rubbing her forehead as she asked Ruby, "Sorry, but can I have warm water before starting my shift?"Ruby was more than happy to serve Brooklyn, and the teenager sighed and took a sip. She woke up that morning with a throbbing headache, but she wasn't sure if it was from the whiskey, the dreams, or both.Meanwhile, the biker-stranger entered the diner and looked around for a possible place to sit when his eyes laid on Brooklyn on the bar stools. He thought about it for a second and he realized that he wasn't exactly sure who she was.He approached her and set his arm on the table, catching her attention. "Hello there,"Brooklyn narrowed her eyes at him as he casually took the seat beside her. "What do you want?""Can't I be friendly to folks around here?" He asked her with a raised brow."I didn't say that," She told him. "But going up to people you don't know and saying 'Hello There' is a weird way of doing so — unless you're Ben Kenobi,"The man nodded his head in agreement. "Very true. August,"The teenager was suddenly confused and corrected him, "It's mid-February, mate,"Despite her use of the word mate, the man couldn't put his finger on her character. August shook his head with a slight chuckle and clarified, "No, my name is August. You're supposed to tell me yours?"Brooklyn nodded, following along, and answered, "Oh, it's Brooklyn,"The only other person with the same name aside from the Evil Queen, August thought."Are you new around here?" The teenager asked him. "Never seen you before,""Yeah," August said. "Came here a few days ago. Just visiting for some writing inspiration,"Brooklyn finished her coffee then said, "That's nice. Hey, you know what? I'll see you around. Gotta start working my shift,"She stood up and went behind the counter to take an apron and August stood up to leave.As he stepped out of the diner, he caught sight of Emma and smirked, "I've been meaning to bump into you. Matter of fact, I was hoping we might grab that drink you promised,""Who was that?" Mary-Margaret asked Emma, who had just finished talking to August.Emma sighed and took a seat. "I don't know yet,""Yet? So, you're going to find out?" She asked, suddenly intrigued.Emma shook her head. "It's nothing,"The dark-haired woman narrowed her eyes. "Nothing with you means something, because if it were nothing, we wouldn't be talking about it,"Emma leaned forward and said, "I'm sorry. I thought you called me here to talk about you?""Yeah, but talking about you is easier right now," The woman admitted.The blonde furrowed her eyebrows. "What is it? What's going on?"Mary-Margaret lowered her voice to a whisper, leaning forward as well. "Remember when you told me to stay away from David and I agreed?""Yes,""I didn't," She confessed and Emma gave her a knowing look, saying, "Yeah, I know,"Mary-Margaret leaned back in shock. "You do? How?""Because I'm sheriff, and you are a love-sick school teacher," Emma simply explained. "Covering your tracks is not exactly your strong suit,"Mary-Margaret protested, "Well I've been dis—," She stopped herself, realizing how loud her voice was. "Discreet,"Emma shot her a look. "Two teacups in the sink, new perfume, late nights, plunging necklines— it was not hard to connect the dots. Plus, Brooklyn told me about a few things,"Mary-Margaret sighed at the mention of Brooklyn, looking over the teenager she holds guardianship over as she serves her shift. "I've really hurt her, haven't I?"Emma nodded sadly in agreement. "She's going through a tough time. I don't know what exactly, but she looks like she needs someone,""Why didn't you say anything?" Mary-Margaret asked sadly."I'm not your mother," The blonde told her."No. Well, according to Henry, I'm yours,""I just figured that you would see it sooner or later as Brooke's guardian," Emma said as Mary-Margaret sipped her coffee. "And you would let me know about you and David when it was time. I'm assuming it's time?""He's telling Kathryn," The woman said."Everything?" Emma asked, to which she was reassured with, "Everything,"
Abigail and James arrived at a clearing in the woods along with the princess's recruits and Abigail announced it, saying, "We have reached my father's realm. We should be safe here. I have provisions waiting for you,"

Everyone got off their horses and Abigail walked towards a bag resting under a tree. She handed James the bag, but he dropped it, saying, "I can't take any of it. Not until you tell me what's really going on,"

"I told you, I was just—,"

James cut her off, saying, "Stop playing games!"

Abigail's men were alarmed at the prince, but she held her hand up with a hard look, telling them to step back as James continued talking. "If you have no feelings for me, as you've said, why show me any kindness at all? What haven't you told me?"

"This isn't about you, James — it's me," The princess admitted. "I don't want to marry you, because my heart also belongs to another. A man I was once to wed. A man named Frederick,"

The prince's demeanor softened as he asked, "What happened?"

"We all have our own tragedies — lost love being the worst. I thought reuniting you with yours might grant me some consolation," Abigail told him.

"Well, I'm afraid I'm not able to help you, then," James said. "My love told me in no uncertain terms that she does not feel for me as I do for her. You can't fight for something that doesn't exist, so there's my tragedy,"

"That's no tragedy," One of the hooded figures scoffed, approaching the pair. "You don't know the whole story, Charming,"

The prince turned around sharply, provoked by the nickname only Snow had ever called him. He recognized the hooded figure as the one who cut the ropes on his wrists earlier. "Who's this?" He demanded from Abigail.

"This," Abigail said, calmly approaching the figure. "Is one of the thieves who ambushed us. She calls herself The Legend,"

"I remember her," James stated, eyes scanning Brooklyn head to toe. The archer wore her usual brown cloak and hood, and the prince immediately recognized her from the first time they met. "How'd you find her?"

The archer spoke up, "Well, your true love accidentally spilled my name to your father's kingdom and now I'm a household name and a face on a poster,"

"And since I have ears in his court, I asked for her help once I found out she knew Snow White," Abigail added.

The princess stepped forward, offering her hand to the prince. "Come, follow me,"

James took it reluctantly and she led him to a shrine with a gold statue of a knight.

"A moment please," Abigail told the guards, and they stepped away, leaving the princess with James and Brooklyn, who was behind them. "This is where my beloved Frederick sacrificed his life,"

"I'm sorry. Did he die in battle?" James asked.

Abigail slowly walked towards the shrine as she told him, "We were traveling with my father, King Midas when our caravan was ambushed. Frederick bravely defended us and was cut down saving my father's life,"

The prince admired the golden statue and said, "It's a fitting tribute. The craftsmanship is... is remarkable. I've never seen anything quite so lifelike,"

"That's not a statue, Charming," Brooklyn said as he looked at the arm of the statue.

The prince gave her a look. "Excuse me?"

"The hand you're touching is actually Frederick's," Abigail clarified for him. "He saw the attack when no one else did, and threw himself in front of my father, knocking him to safety,"

"Because of Midas's curse, he was instantly turned to gold," Brooklyn finished.

"All curses can be broken," James told her confidently. "Have you tried true love's kiss?"

The princess sighed and said, "Until my lips bled,"

"The gold got in the way," The man muttered. "There must be something else to do,"

Abigail paused as she looked at James, hesitant to tell him of her idea. "There is legend of a lake- Lake Nostos. Its waters are said to have magical properties that can return to you something that was once lost,"

The archer held a longing look in her eyes that the other two missed as Prince Charming asked, "And, yet, you haven't tried it?"

Abigail turned to him. "Of course I have, but the lake is guarded by a ghastly creature that drowns its victims. No one who's ever faced it has lived to return,"

"Don't give up hope just yet. I will face this guardian and return with the water that will undo this wretched curse," James told her.

"None have succeeded,"

"None have my fearless bravery," James persisted, which earned him a scoff from Brooklyn, who said, "Or your apparent stupidity and overwhelming ego,"

James shot her a look and Abigail nodded in agreement. "She's right. The fearless disregard for their own safety,"

"Either way, one of us should have our happiness,"

"And if you die, neither of us will," She persisted.

"No, not true. Don't you understand? If I succeed, you will be reunited with Frederick and your misery ends. If I fail, the misery that ends will be mine," James said.

At that moment, Brooklyn wanted to punch James so he'd realize that Snow White loved him just as much as he does her.
"Oh, go on. Open it," Regina smiled, handing Henry a box with a blue bow. They were in her office, sitting on the couch.Henry hesitantly took the box and looked at his mom. "What's the occasion?""The occasion is I Love You. Go on," Regina's smile widened as her son lifted the lid and pulled out a new video game. "Now, I know you miss your book, but with this, you can do the heroics. You can save the princesses, you can be the hero," Regina paused and sighed. "Henry, you have to believe me. When I tore down the playground, I did it for your safety. Please, don't be upset with me. I really didn't mean to destroy your book,""It's not just the book," He said, shaking his head and placing the video game back in the box.Confused, Regina asked, "Okay, then what is it?""It's Emma — I want to see her," Henry answered.Just then, the door to Regina's office swung open to reveal Kathryn. "Regina, have you got a —," The blonde woman stopped when she caught sight of Henry and immediately apologized, realizing what she interrupted. "I'm sorry,""Oh, don't worry about it," Regina told her before facing Henry to say, "Henry, you can hang out with Brooklyn for a while. She's waiting for you outside and if she wants to, we can have dinner with her,"The boy's eyes lit up and he immediately heads out the door with his new video game in hand. He tackled Brooklyn in a hug the second he saw her."Oof, slow down, kiddo," She laughed, hugging him back tightly."Come on, I have so much to tell you,"
Abigail, James, and Brooklyn arrived at a small shrine surrounded by candles, helmets, armor, and other trinkets. The prince stopped and looked at it curiously as he asked, "What's this?"

"It's a shrine to the guardian of the lake," Abigail answered. "Every man who faces it leaves an offering here first, asking for the creature's mercy,"

The prince took a helmet, smirking to himself, and said, "I go the rest of the way alone,"

"No, this is for me," Abigail told him. "You have to let me come with you,"

The prince turned her down and said, "No. The only life I want in my hands is my own,"

"Take Legend with you," She insisted. "She will help you,"

The said archer took a step forward and James nodded at Abigail before looking Brooklyn in the eye, who was giving him a blank look beneath her hood.

Abigail quickly wished the pair luck as The Legend walked past the shrine and James followed not long after.

"And don't forget...," The princess trailed off, knowing that the pair knew she was referring to the shrine.

James looked back and dropped the helmet back on the shrine, saying, "A lot of good it did them,"
"Hey Brooke, thanks for letting me stop by the school," Henry smiled as he looked up at his babysitter and best friend as they walked towards the school's exit. "My mom would kill me if she found out that I left my homework here,"Brooklyn shrugged in reply and returned his smile. "No problem. At least you remembered to get it,"The teenager lifted her head from Henry in time to see Kathryn storming into the school with a furious face, and Brooklyn immediately knew who the blonde was looking for as a thought ran through her mind: A recipe for disaster indeed.She bent down to Henry's level and quickly told him, "Henry, I need you to wait outside, okay? I'll be right there,"The boy obediently nodded his head and left the school, allowing Brooklyn to chase after Kathryn just in time to see her slap Ms. Blanchard across the face. Her action silenced the hallway as parents and teachers tried to shield the children."Screw you, you're sorry," Kathryn spat at Mary-Margaret.Brooklyn immediately positioned herself in front of Kathryn and in between the two women and said, "Look, I understand you're upset, but can we take this somewhere private?"Kathryn responded by lifting her hand to slap the teenager, but Brooklyn saw it coming and grabbed Kathryn's wrist just before her hand hit her face. The woman's eyes widened and Brooklyn's grip tightened on her as the brunette glared at her."Look, blondie, I can see that your furious," Brooklyn said calmly, controlling herself in front of the kids. "But why don't we move into a classroom where you can let it all out in private?""Private?!" Kathryn exclaimed. "Why does she get any consideration at all when she has shown none for me —,"She was interrupted by Brooklyn's grip on her wrist getting even tighter and both females knew that it was going to leave a mark."I'll say it again, nicely," Brooklyn hissed and the smirk was enough to make Kathryn shush. "There are children and there are parents around. So unless you want your reputation to be as bad as hers, then get in a fucking classroom," Kathryn gulped as she stared into Brooklyn's eyes, which were filled with anger, and followed Brooklyn into an empty classroom. Once the two women were inside, Brooklyn shut the door and extended her arm mockingly, saying, "The floor is all yours,"Mary-Margaret spoke up first. "We should have talked to you sooner, but we've been completely honest. We didn't lie,""You didn't lie?" Kathryn exclaimed. "You snuck around? You had him break up my marriage with a pack of lies with some crap about not being able to connect? He didn't have any trouble connecting with you," Her voice was getting louder each word and Brooklyn was certain they could be heard outside.Mary-Margaret had a stunned look on her face as she asked, "David didn't tell you about us?"The blonde shook her head and said, "No, of course not. That would have been the honorable thing to do,""But, he said he would tell you," Mary-Margaret said and Brooklyn noticed the look of betrayal on her face."Well, then he lied to you too. Good luck making it work; you two deserve each other,"Kathryn turned on her heel and proceeded to leave the room, but Brooklyn quickly stood in front of her with her arms crossed so she blocked the woman. "Now that's all done, my turn," She smirked. "I get that you are mad — I can see it with my eyes closed — but cut Mary-Margaret some slack. She wasn't aware of this lie and she did want David to tell you about them, so if you should be mad at anyone, it's your husband. Also, if you think about trying to slap me again, there will be a much worse fate for you than what I just did with your wrist,"With that, Brooklyn stepped aside with a clean smirk on her face and Kathryn held her gaze for a second fearfully before finally leaving the room."Thanks for standing by me," Mary-Margaret said, approaching the teenager."Yeah, because that's what you're supposed to do for people you care about," Brooklyn retorted. "Be grateful I decided to be the better person instead of letting her embarrass you outside," The teacher shook her head and said, "Why didn't you tell me? That you were hurting or that you needed help? Emma told me this morning —,"Brooklyn cut her off with a sarcastic laugh. "I did tell you — under the rain while we were trying to get the dove back home — but you were too busy with David, right? It's been happening for days, weeks even, but we both know why you haven't been able to see anything. Emma saw it right away and we're all under one roof then."Brooklyn's voice lowered as she said, "You're my guardian. I thought you were supposed to protect me,"Mary-Margaret tried reaching for her as she said, "Brooklyn, I'm so sorry,""Save it. I need to get to Henry; he's waiting outside the school," She told her, dodging her guardian's arm and walking out of the classroom.
"You better be serious about what you said," The Legend spoke up as she and James headed to the lake. "That the only life in your hands will be yours because I don't plan to die in the hands of someone so egotistical,"

The prince shot her a look as she said, "Not to mention the part where you left nothing in the shrine. Some ego that is,"

"You walked ahead first," James retorted. "I was just following you,"

"I wasn't the one who dropped the helmet," She pointed out.

The prince narrowed his eyes at The Legend, who was covered head to toe with her cloak.

"Why are you doing this — helping us? I'm sure you have other things you would rather do," He asked.

"I'm doing this for Snow," was her only answer before she changed the topic. 
"So, what's your plan, Mr. Egotistical Ass?"

He gave the archer a look again at the nickname and said, "Slice its head off, stab its heart...," He shrugged. "I don't really know,"

Brooklyn rolled her eyes and sarcastically said, "That is, by far, the best battle plan I've heard across all the kingdoms. You know what? Just do your thing down here, and I'll be up in the trees in case you die,"

Brooklyn took her hood and mask off and James stared at her in shock to see that she was just a teenager. She proceeded to climb a tree and James watched for a second before taking off his cloak. He bent down and dipped a container into the water, causing a ripple.

The prince sensed something off and stood up, calling out, "Where are you? Make yourself known to me," He pulled his sword out. "Beast, show yourself!"

Above, Brooklyn had an arrow notched on her bow and her grip tightened on her bow when the lake started bubbling to reveal a siren. She gulped. She didn't have pleasant experiences with sirens in the past, and she learned to hate them since.

"Here I am," The siren spoke.

Prince James was immediately under the spell of the siren, as his eyes were glued onto the too-perfect figure, mouth slightly ajar.

The siren slowly approached the prince as she asked him questions. "What's your name? Would you like to know mine? Because I can be anyone you want me to be,"

Brooklyn silently applauded the prince when he pointed the sword to her throat. "Stop. I know what you are — you're a siren. Your deceitful words are a spell meant to lure me to my death,"

"I would never hurt such a brave, powerful man like yourself," The siren told him, pushing the blade away. "Not when there are so many other things we could do.

"I said stop! I will not fall prey to your deceptions," James protested, grabbing her arm.

"Really? You're immune to me?" The siren tested with a smirk, pulling her hand back and bending down to take a handful of water. She poured it on herself and she turned into a Snow White look-alike. She smirked, "Like me more now, Charming?"

The prince was speechless and his eyes were distant as he stared at the siren who now looked like his love. Brooklyn wanted to repeatedly ram her head onto the tree as she thought,

"Any. Dumb. Ass. Would. Know. That. She's. Still. The. Siren. SHE CHANGED FORM RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!"

The siren came closer and James shook his head. "It's an illusion,"

"Sometimes, illusions are better than truth," She told him, placing her hand on his chest and moving behind him.

Brooklyn watched from above as Charming gave in to the siren and kissed her, dropping his sword in the process. The siren started leading the prince towards the lake while he was still under the trance.

"Do I have to do everything for him?" Brooklyn grumbled as she carefully aimed her bow and successfully nicked his shoulder, pulling him out of the trance.

He yelped in pain and pulled away from the siren. "No, I don't want an illusion. I want reality or nothing,"

"This doesn't feel real?" The siren protested, pulling James back for another kiss, successfully entrancing him again.

The archer then had enough of James and jumped down from the tree, shouting, "HEY!"

This caused the two to break out of the kiss and James proceeded to push the siren away, snapping out of it. The siren regained her balance and faced Brooklyn, and the archer felt her heart drop to her stomach when the siren morphed into Peter. This gave the siren enough time to pull the prince down into the water with her.

The archer quickly snapped out of it and cursed at herself. She quickly took her cloak off and dropped her weapons to the ground before diving after the two — rather gracefully. She swam down as fast as she could to help James up before he drowned.

James reached for Legend's hand and tried to swim up, but he looked down at his feet when he realized he couldn't. The archer followed his gaze to a piece of seaweed entangled on his foot and she swam deeper into the lake. Her eyes widened when the seaweed untangled itself from the prince at her touch.

James hadn't noticed and simply swam up to the surface when Brooklyn was spotted by the siren, who had then reverted to her original look.

The siren's eyes glowed at the sight of the archer and it launched itself onto her. Brooklyn swiftly swam to the side, dodging the siren, and she managed to spot a dagger at the bottom of the lake. She dove down deeper to reach for it.

Meanwhile, James caught his breath when he emerged from the water when he realized that the archer didn't come up after him. He dove back down to save her.

Back in the water, the siren turned to face Brooklyn with her eyes glowing once more before launching herself onto the archer again. Brooklyn took the chance to stab her and a cloud of red surrounded her as the siren sank to the bottom—lifeless.

The prince could only watch as everything happened too fast and Brooklyn swam back up, surprising James at how quickly she did so.

The pair gasped for air upon reaching the surface, and James panted as he crawled back to dry ground.

"So you're a swimmer?" James asked.
The brunette shot him a look that said, "Really?" and stated, "You're welcome,"
"I meant that question," He told her. "You swim differently, and you were down there for a long time,"

"I wasn't the one kissing a siren," She retorted. "Should've told you that beforehand; save us both the trouble,"
Henry and Brooklyn sat on a bench outside school as the boy showed her his new video game. The two laughed as Henry tried to defeat a certain level several times when Emma took a seat beside them."Hey, is that Space Paranoids?" She asked Henry.The boy kept his eyes on the game as he said, "Yeah, my mom got it for me,"Brooklyn chuckled and added, "He's been trying to defeat that for twenty minutes now,""I used to play that all the time when I was a kid," Emma told Henry. The boys swerved along with his game and Emma laughed, "Relax, it's all in the wrists,""Hey, Em, Regina's gonna be here in, like, five minutes, so...," Brooklyn gave her a look at the end and said, "Be quick,"The blonde woman smiled at the nickname and said, "Yeah, I just have something to give Henry,"Henry looked up from his lost game and gasped, "You do?"Emma opened the huge bag she has slung around her and brought out Henry's Once Upon A Time book. The boy's eyes lit up immediately as he excitedly took the book from her. "You found it!" He exclaimed."Where'd you get it?" Brooklyn asked."I found it in a gutter," Emma told the two. "It must have fallen off the dump truck on the way to the junkyard and got tossed around in the rain. Somehow, it made its way back to me,"All Henry could say was "Wow," as the teenager said, "That's crazy,"The blonde shrugged, "What other explanation could there be?"Henry looked at the book before saying, "Maybe, it means our luck is changing. Operation Cobra is back on. It's a sign. Things are going to be better,"Brooklyn and Emma smiled at him as the blonde said, "I hope you're right, kid. I got to go,"Henry nodded as she got up, but Brooklyn stood up to catch up to her. "Emma, can I talk to you?"The said woman turned back and nodded, "Sure, what is it?"The teenager paused and shoved her hands into her flight jacket. "Can you take care of Mary-Margaret for me? Something happened today and it might be overwhelming for her,"Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and asked, "Why? What happened?""There was a fight between her and Kathryn then a fight between her and me," Brooklyn explained as she shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not going to stop caring for her, but I don't think I'm mentally and emotionally ready yet," The teenager admitted. "I mean, it's honestly tough to put myself together for Henry,"Emma sadly nodded understandingly, placing her hand on Brooklyn's arm and said, "I'll look after her. Just..., take care of yourself, okay?"The teenager gave her a small smile with a slight shrug. "I'll try. Thanks,"
Prince James and Legend, whose hood was off, returned to Frederick's shrine to see Abigail standing expectantly for them. The princess was shocked at how young the archer looked without the shadows of the hood to hide her face.

James handed her the container filled with water, saying, "Water from Lake Nostos, as requested,"

Abigail laughed in relief and gratefully said, "Remarkable, but how did you manage to slay the beast?"

"Well, the fate of your true love was at stake and-,"

James was cut off by Legend clearing her throat behind him. The prince turned to her, continuing, "And The Legend over here saved the night,"

Abigail grinned, excited to get her love back and walked to the statue, pouring the water all over it. James and Brooklyn watched as the gold slowly melted and Frederick collapsed into Abigail's arms.

The princess laughed, overwhelmed with joy as she pulled Frederick in for a kiss.

"Abigail, what happened to me?" The man asked her, pulling back, confused.

"You were trapped, but now you're free," She told him and he pulled her in for another kiss.

Brooklyn looked away as she didn't want to show any emotion to the three adults. Seeing the two back together sent a wave of jealousy in her.

"This is James, and The Legend," The archer heard, turning to face the reunited couple, and pulled her hood down. "They're the ones who freed you,"

Frederick shook both of their hands, saying, "I am forever indebted to you,"

Charming shook his head, saying, "Pay me back by walking down the aisle with someone you truly belong with," Abigail looked at Frederick lovingly at that. "And, perhaps, giving me a horse and supplies for a journey as well?"

"Done," Frederick said. "And to the lady?"

The archer flinched at the way he addressed her and said, "Keep my assistance confidential. It's not something I usually do, no matter the price,"

The knight nodded at her and Abigail said, "Thank you so much. Where will you go?"

"To find Snow White," The prince answered, to which the princess said, "You're going after her?"

"True love isn't easy, but it must be fought for; because once you find it, it can never be replaced," The Legend said, making all face her.

"How do you know that?" James asked curiously.

The archer simply shrugged, "You learn a lot when you're in my shoes,"

"How will you know where to find her?" Abigail asked her ex-fiancé.

"Well, a bird helped me track her down once. Hopefully, it can again," James said.

The princess nodded at them, saying, "Well, then, good luck,"

The two left for their horses when Abigail added, "Oh, and James: please make haste. When King George discovers that the union of the kingdoms has been ruined, he will come after you. Some people will stop at nothing to destroy the happiness of others,"

The prince simply nodded and thanked her.

"And Legend?" The brunette turned around to face the princess. "I'll have my father remove the reward for your head,"

The archer nodded in thanks before pulling her hood up and disappearing to the woods.
"Hey, you two!" Regina smiled as she got out of the car. Henry and Brooklyn both looked up at the woman and Regina asked, " Brooklyn, care to join us for dinner?"Henry looked up at her and said, "Please Brooke? Can you?"The teenager sadly shook her head. "I'm sorry, kiddo, but I can't," She looked up at Regina. "I have a few things to take care of at home,"Regina nodded her head. "Well, head home safely,""I will," Brooklyn told her before ruffling Henry's hair. "I'll see you soon, Henry!" She grinned at him and he took his mom's hand as they walked back to the car.The brunette waited until they drove away then she shoved her hands in her pocket with a sigh.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"FIND HER,"

The shadow growled in refusal of the boy's demand, sneering, "Not until you find the heart,""I'm doing everything I can to find the heart," Peter stated, eyes darkening at the Shadow's protest. "I owe this to her and you owe this to me,""I gave you this life," The shadow told him. "I owe you nothing,""NO!" Peter snapped. "You took my life away when you did that to her all those decades ago,""The Queen's Dark Curse took everyone away from the Enchanted Forest," The Shadow persuaded."Then check the other realms! Just find her and make sure she's safe," Peter insisted."And if I don't?" The Shadow growled again, disapproving of the immortal boy's idea."Then there's no point in finding the heart," Peter said blankly. With that, the Shadow flew away to search for the girl, in hopes to encourage the boy.Brooklyn was serving her shift in Granny's that morning, coffee pot in hand as she refilled Leroy's mug on the counter. Two men meekly walked up behind him, one of them tapping his shoulder and asking, "Uh, excuse me, Leroy. Do you mind scooting over a seat so Walter and I could sit together?A scowl formed on Leroy's face as he turned around irritatingly. He shot Clark a glare and said, "If I wanted to sit there, I would've sat there. You want this seat? Try dragging your sorry asses out of bed a little earlier.""Now aren't you a real ray of sunshine," Brooklyn mumbled, raising a brow at him.Suddenly, Clark sneezed in Leroy's direction and the latter's face twisted in disgust. Leroy threw his bread onto his plate and said, "Congrats, just lost my appetite. Seat's all yours,"He was more than ready to leave the diner when Mary-Margaret came in with a clipboard in hand. The woman cleared her throat and said, "Excuse me, can I have everyone's attention, please?"Brooklyn looked up and so do the rest of the customers in the diner, successfully silencing the place."I'm sorry to interrupt your morning, but I just wanted to remind everyone that a very special occasion is upon us: Miner's Day. As always, the nuns of Storybrooke are hoping that everyone will get involved and will help sell their exquisite candles. All we need are a few energetic volunteers. So, who wants to join me?" Mary-Margaret announced, trying her best to sound enthusiastic.Brooklyn noticed some customers shaking their heads and resumed to their business while others shot her dirty looks and ignored her. She noticed the woman sigh but she perked up when Leroy approached her and asked, "Leroy, you want to volunteer?"The rest of their conversation was inaudible to Brooklyn as she focused back on her shift, but knowing Leroy, he was probably giving another one of his degrading speeches.Seconds after Leroy left the diner, Mary-Margaret turned around and left gloomily. Emma ran out to follow her, having watched Mary-Margaret the whole time.Brooklyn sighed to herself, feeling sorry for her guardian, then turned to Ruby, saying, "Hey, I'll be quick,"Ruby nodded at her friend understandingly, and Brooklyn quickly untied her apron, leaving it on the counter. She grabbed her flight jacket from the coat hanger and chased after the two women outside Granny's."Hey!" Brooklyn called from a few feet away on the sidewalk, successfully getting the attention of Emma and Mary-Margaret. "Mind if I join you? I'd like to volunteer,"Mary-Margaret turned around in surprise while Emma smiled, watching the teenager pull her arms through her jacket."Brooklyn, you don't have to—,"The brunette cut Mary-Margaret off, saying, "But I want to. Isn't that what volunteering means?" "I'll make it up to you. I promise," Mary-Margaret promised, smiling gratefully. "See? Now you've got another volunteer," Emma smiled, picking up the conversation before Brooklyn popped up. "This is going to blow over. You made a mistake with David. it happens, but you don't have to do charity to try to win people's hearts back,""She's right," Brooklyn agreed. "Trust me, I was worse of a town wrecker before you took me in. People learned to live with me around; they're not going to hang it over your head forever,"Mary-Margaret shook her head, still not convinced.  "I have to do something, and this is the best I can do. I've ruined my life,"Brooklyn immediately objected, "No, you haven't. You have Emma and me,""See?" The blonde woman said.A smile made its way to Mary-Margaret's face as she realized that she wasn't alone when Emma's phone suddenly rang."Sheriff Swan. Yeah, I'll be right down," Emma answered before hanging up. She turned to Mary-Margaret and Brooklyn and said, "Well, apparently, duty calls. Hang in there, and if there's anything I can do to help, I will,"Mary-Margaret nodded understandingly, "I know. Thank you,"Emma waved at Brooklyn, who returned the favor, before leaving.The teenager then turned to Mary-Margaret and told her, "I've still got a shift to get back to so...""Sure," Mary-Margaret nodded."I'll meet you at the volunteer center afterward," Brooklyn said, ready to leave, but Mary-Margaret called for her."Brooke?" "Yeah?" The teenager said. "Thank you so much,"Brooklyn smiled back at the woman and said, "Sure thing,"
The Evil Queen had a murderous look on her face, staring down a girl who was held down on her knees by two of her knights in front of her.

In her attempt to find and kill Snow White and anyone else who stood in her way, she and her knights came across the troublemaking thief in the kingdom. The queen didn't exactly keep the physical track of the people she disliked, but this girl was new. Equipped with a bow and arrow hidden under a brown hood and cape-like trail, the brunette seemed like another one of the villagers possibly aiding Snow White.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

The girl raised a brow, which only annoyed the queen, and responded, "I don't have to answer to you. Look, I know you think you look terrifying in your elaborate costumes, but you're starting to look ridiculous the longer I stare at you,"

"I am the queen!" She bellowed. "You don't have the right to talk to me like that, or you will be punished,"

"Understood,

Your Majesty

," The girl drawled out. "Now, what exactly did I do wrong for you to capture me?"

"You were in my property," Regina stated, crossing her arms. "Were you aiding Snow White?"

"What?" The girl scrunched her brows in utter confusion. "
The woods are property now? 'Cause if so, I'm pretty sure you'd have a jungle jailed in your castle by now,"

"Enough!" Regina bellowed, face painted with pure annoyance as she extended her arm out. She meant to choke the girl in front of her, but there was a 
blue shield that glowed when the queen, as though to disseminate the magic.

Regina's eyes widened in shock, but the brunette didn't seem to see the shield, only looking at the woman weirdly.

"Look, Queenie, if you wanted to choke me, try taking a few steps forward first," She laughed.

"That's not possible," She muttered.

The girl smirked, seeing the look on the Queen's face. She was distracted, so she took her chances.

She yanked her arms free from the knights' grasps. They, too, were in shock of what had just happened magic-wise, and their grips were loose on the girl in that second. The brunette then swung her feet around, pivoting around her hands, and kicked the knights off-balance. She grabbed her bow and quiver that they had confiscated earlier, swinging the quiver around her shoulders in one swift move, before quickly shooting down two knights standing guard by the entrance.

The two knights she had previously kicked over were now on their feet, and they unsheathed their swords. They lunged for the archer, swinging their swords, but she dropped to her knees and slid past them. Two arrows perfectly struck each knight between their armor, hitting their legs and causing them to groan in pain.

The archer smirked victoriously, her marksmanship not lost on her, and turned to the Queen. Regina had been standing there, watching the archer take out four knights in mere seconds. She was completely appalled not only by the girl's skill but by the fact that she had some sort of shield against magic.

She was a threat.

"Try, uh... simplifying your costumes. You'd around better," She smirked, curtsying mockingly. She quickly headed for an open window nearby, ready to jump and escape, but something came over her. Ego, maybe, but the idea amused her anyway.

"I think I'll introduce myself, Your Majesty," She said, turning around to face the woman. The queen was impressed, so to say, with the attitude this girl had. "I think it's only fitting...
"They call me The Legend,"  After her Granny's shift, Brooklyn joined Mary-Margaret in the convent, helping with bringing in the candles that they were meant to sell. The teenager easily carried two huge boxes of candles in her arms while Mary-Margaret was talking to Leroy. She set the boxes down beside Mary-Margaret's table as she thought, "These nuns sure make a lot of candles. Don't they have something better to do?"She was about to go back for the rest of the candles when she heard Mother Superior ask, "You ordered how many tanks of helium?"Brooklyn overheard the sister respond, "I meant to order twelve,""You ordered twelve dozen," Mother Superior corrected and Brooklyn's eyes widened. "Return them,""There are no refunds," The sister admitted."We needed that money — you knew that. You know how he feels about us," Mother Superior told her. "You fix this, Sister Astrid. You fix it now,"Brooklyn silently agreed with the nun as she walked out, knowing who she meant by he. Mr. Gold was an asshole when it came to money, and the teenager knew by experience when it came to her apartment rent.Mother Superior got up from her seat and left the volunteer center. On her way out, her eyes widened in astonishment as she caught a glance of Brooklyn casually carrying the last of several boxes at once.The teenager huffed as she placed the boxes beside Mary-Margaret, who jumped in response before informing Brooklyn, "Looks like we've got another volunteer,""Who?" Brooklyn asked.Mary-Margaret responded by looking over at Leroy, who was busy talking to Astrid, and Brooklyn's eyebrows shot up as her eyes followed her gaze to the custodian, "Him?!"Her guardian sighed as she admitted, "He's all we've got,"Brooklyn also sighed at this, but her guardian was right; he was all they had so far. The two continued to watch Leroy talk to Sister Astrid and they overheard Leroy say, "You know why you only sold forty-two last year? Because you didn't have me,"Mary-Margaret simply rolled her eyes and Brooklyn snorted at his ego."This year, we're going to sell all of them,"At this, Brooklyn stared at Leroy wide-eyed."Wow, Leroy! I guess you really are my hero," Astrid exclaimed, and Leroy smiled sheepishly before walking back to the candles table.Brooklyn grabbed him by the arm and yanked him aside. "What the hell, Leroy?!"Mary-Margaret placed her hand on Brooklyn's shoulder, telling her to calm down.Brooklyn huffed in response, rephrasing herself before she spat out profanities at him, but the daggers didn't leave her eyes as she said, "You probably don't know about not making promises you can't keep,"Leroy simply glared at the teenager and said, "If I say we're going to sell all of them, I mean it, sister,"
A hooded figure walked through the busy market, unnoticed by everyone else. Despite the bow and arrows swung around her shoulders over her hood and cape, no one minded her. It was like hunting was a normal thing here.

A merchant caught her eye, and she smirked as she noticed a lumpy bag strapped onto his belt—gold, no doubt, or something else of good value. She strutted his direction, pretending to head for a nearby stall, and snatched the bag unnoticed.

She was counting the steps she took as she walked away from the man, tucking the bag that clearly had coins in it in her belt. It was eighteen steps when she heard, 
"STOP THAT THIEF!"

"STOP HIM! THE ONE IN THE HOOD!"

The archer snickered in amusement as she made a run for it, taking off her hood since that was the profile the merchant yelled. She was confident, having learned from her past mistake.

There were guards who started running after her, the sounds of clanking armor mixing with the townspeople's gasping as they moved away.

"THERE! THE ONE WITH THE ARROWS!"

She swerved to the side, momentarily losing the guards
 — 
who turned out to be the queen's knights. She pulled out an arrow, taking her aim and finding that sweet spot between the crowd and their armor.

Two arrows flew swiftly to their target. Two arrows punctured two black knights in the neck, and they fell to the ground, gurgling to their death.

There were 
fearful gasps, some petrified, at the sight. In a split-second, someone had swiftly killed two of the queen's guards.

Someone was brave enough to approach the scene, taking a closer look at the arrows.

Right there, just by the arrows' fletching, were engravings.

The scratches formed letters.

L E G E N D
Brooklyn was slumped on a chair, sitting in the booth as Mary-Margaret tried selling candles to the people passing by. She was trying to fight another headache that was attacking her, and she sighed as she watched Mary-Margaret and Leroy fail at their job."This isn't working," Mary-Margaret sighed, setting the candles down.Leroy turned to her and agreed, "You're right. We should pack it up,"Mary-Margaret turned sharply with disbelief. "Now you're quitting?"Brooklyn perked up and her hand shot up as she said, "Called it!"Leroy shot her a dirty look before telling Mary-Margaret, "If the customers won't come to us, we got to go to them,"Brooklyn raised her brow and asked, "What? Shove the candles to their faces?""No," Leroy told her, shooting the teenager another look. "Door to door,""They already hate us here," Brooklyn said, slumping back onto the chair. "What makes you think they'll like us in their homes?""Exactly, they'll pay us to leave," He answered immediately.Brooklyn thought about it for a second, then shrugged, "Fair enough,"The teenager proceeded to stand up, only to sit back down when she felt her head spin.Mary-Margaret noticed and placed a hand on her shoulder, asking, "You okay?""Yeah, just sat up too quickly. Let's go," The teenager nodded with a tight smile. She lifted the two candles boxes in her arms, but Mary-Margaret took one of them, saying, "Take it easy on yourself, Brooke,"The three quickly headed out with a box each, rushing past the fair when the dark-haired woman stopped at the ring toss, where Sidney and Emma were."Emma! Help me out!" Mary-Margaret asked quickly, putting the scarf around her neck. "What's more sympathetic: scarf or no scarf?" Emma, startled by the odd question, blinked as she watched Mary-Margaret. She shook her head a few times before stuttering, "Sc-scarf,"The woman smiled and tied the scarf around her neck again while Brooklyn grabbed Mary-Margaret's arm somewhat impatiently and said, "Come on, we're on a schedule,"The three did try door-to-door, but it didn't go as Leroy said it would. The people didn't pay them to leave. They just slammed the door on their faces. "The booth was a lot better," Brooklyn groaned, dropping the box beside her as she sat down on the porch of the last house. "At least they didn't have to slam doors at us,"Mary-Margaret sighed as she glanced down at the teenager while Leroy kept his strong face on, still determined to fulfill his promise to the sisters."We gotta sell the candles, sister," Leroy pushed. "The nuns need the money,""No shit," Brooklyn snapped, which earned her a disapproving look from Mary-Margaret that she ignored. "But we already spend all afternoon trying to get that money, so we have to tell them,""But—,"Brooklyn cut him off sarcastically, "Tell them in advance or come up to them tomorrow with 'SURPRISE! We don't have your money!'?"Brooklyn shot him a look that said, "You know I'm right," before putting her head between her hands again. Her head was throbbing like crazy, but she didn't dare say a word to Mary-Margaret.Her guardian sighed beside her, partially at Brooklyn's temper and partially at how right she was. "She's right, Leroy. We have to tell the sisters that we can't get them the money. False hope is worse than no hope at all,"Leroy huffed. He wasn't going to back down, but there were better things to do than argue with the two in front of a stranger's porch.Brooklyn stood beside Mary-Margaret with her arms crossed as they watched Leroy walk up to Sister Astrid. Mary-Margaret prompted Leroy with a hard look on her face and Brooklyn leaned in close to whisper, "Five bucks — he's not gonna do it,"Her guardian responded by shushing her as she intently watched Leroy, who told Astrid, "The bad news is, that... That... You nuns are going to be real busy making candles, cause Mary-Margaret, Brooklyn and I just sold them all,"Brooklyn and Mary-Margaret's eyes widened as Brooklyn's bet won."You're not losing the convent. You're not going anywhere,"A huge grin made its way to Astrid's face and she jumped up and down giddily, hugging Leroy gratefully. Mary-Margaret and Brooklyn watched with disapproving looks as Leroy walked back to them.Brooklyn immediately yanked him behind the helium tanks that were still in the volunteer center as Mary-Margaret hissed, "How could you tell Astrid that we sold all those candles? That is five thousand dollars, Leroy. Five thousand dollars that we don't have,""Don't worry about it, alright? I got a plan," Leroy reassured the two, but Brooklyn wasn't buying it, already pissed at him."Like what? Going door to door again or sell everyone a candle to throw at us?" The teenager retorted.Leroy glared at Brooklyn and said, "Just give me till the end of the day. I'll figure something out,"Mary-Margaret shook her head at him, asking, "Why is this so important to you?""The nuns..." Leroy said, glancing over at Astrid. "They're going to have to leave."Mary-Margaret followed his gaze and her face twisted in disgust as she connected the dots. "Oh my god, you like her!"Brooklyn wasn't surprised, having thought of the possibility the minute he promised her a sellout.Mary-Margaret rebuked him, saying, "She's a nun, Leroy. Could you possibly pick anyone any less available?"Leroy replied, "Says the girl who went after a married guy?"This silenced Mary-Margaret but angered Brooklyn who said, "Watch what you say, asshole, or I'm throwing those candles on your face myself,"The man glared at Brooklyn, who simply stared him down, before facing Mary-Margaret again. "At the end of the day, you're no better than I am. You got your reasons for being here, I got mine."He turned to Brooklyn with fury in his eyes as he spat, "And I'm keeping my word, sister. When I say I'm going to get those five thousand dollars, I'm going to get those five thousand dollars,"He stormed out of the room, leaving the two in the volunteering center.Brooklyn shook her head in annoyance and mumbled, "The only thing stopping me from punching his gut is this splitting headache I'm having,"Mary-Margaret turned to the girl worriedly, having heard her, and said, "Brooklyn, do you need —,"Brooklyn cut her off. "No, I'll be fine. I'll just head back to my apartment,"Later that day, Brooklyn grabbed a whiskey bottle out of her counter in her apartment and took a swig. Her head was still pounding and she couldn't think straight.She somewhat slammed the bottle down on the table as she leaned onto it, gripping the edges as she tried suppressing the ringing in her ears by breathing deeply.The pains she felt throughout the day made her more ill-tempered and she found herself snapping at people she couldn't stand. Although she stopped causing trouble since Graham and Mary-Margaret kept her grounded, she found herself causing a different kind of trouble, and she wasn't exactly enjoying it like she used to.Brooklyn grunted as another wave of pain hits her and she tightened her grip on the table, panting. The teenager tried leaning her elbows on the table once the pain subsided and she rubbed her eyes and forehead.She gulped another round of whiskey before making her way to her bed, hoping sleep would help the pain. Instead of hanging her flight jacket on its chair, she took it off and laid under it like it was a blanket... like she felt safer with it.
Brooklyn was wandering Neverland alone when she came across a pond. She decided to sit down beside it and mindlessly started fiddling with her pendant.

She loved the camp with the Lost Boys, but she would still miss her quiet time in the woods.

Her comfortable silence was suddenly interrupted by a rustling behind her and she froze in her spot. She turned around, expecting to see an animal or one of the Lost Boys pop out.

She saw nothing, which unsettled her, so the brunette pulled the knife out of her boot and stood up cautiously.

"Peter?" She tried calling out. "I swear if this is another one of your pranks...,"

She quietly made her way to the bushes, when she suddenly felt immense pain on her back, causing her to drop the knife.
Brooklyn sat up on her bed, screaming, as her heart pounded in her ears. She was sweating despite the cold weather outside.The dream felt so real and the pain was something Brooklyn had wished she never felt. She cautiously reached for her jacket, holding it close to her as she breathed in the scent it had. She shut her eyes for a moment before looking out the window.Brooklyn knew everyone was still in the Miner's Day fair, which gave her little consolation, knowing no one heard her scream.
"Where's Brooklyn?" Peter asked Felix. The Lost Boy's face immediately fell as he answered, "I thought she was with you...,"

Before Peter could say anything, they both hear a scream from across the woods and Peter felt his stomach drop.

He immediately teleported himself to wherever Brooklyn may be, and the sight he saw mortified him.

The Shadow was trying to kill Brooklyn, trying to take away her shadow, and the girl was crying from the immense pain.

"HEY!" Peter yelled, taunting the Shadow away from his girl. The Shadow only spared him a glance, pulling at the girl's shadow.

Peter quickly shot his magic at the Shadow and it screeched, flying away. Brooklyn's shadow was returned to her body, but it was a small comfort. She was unconscious on the ground.

Peter immediately knelt beside Brooklyn and checked her pulse before picking her up gently, cradling her in his arms.

For the first time in his life, he was scared.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

THE NEXT MORNING, the first thing Brooklyn did was stumble into the bathroom. She knelt down in front of her toilet and held her hair back as she vomited.Her head was killing her and sleep didn't help her situation with the dreams — last night gave her one of the worst she's had.The teenager got up after another round of throwing up and looked at pale herself in the mirror, telling herself, "You need to lessen the alcohol, Brooke. It's getting to you,"Brooklyn sighed, shaking her head at herself, and splashed her face with water. She then took her phone from beside her bed and texted Ruby, telling her friend that she couldn't make it to her shift for the day.
Brooklyn trudged through the snow with her hood over her head and bow slung across her shoulders, following the trail she's been onto for the past hour.

She and Snow had been dodging Wolves' Time at night and the archer woke up that morning to find the ex-princess gone.

Brooklyn wasn't blind to how hard it was for Snow to adjust to being a runaway, but she has been hoping that Snow would be a little more... bearable.

When the trail reached a clearing, Brooklyn looked up to see a cottage with a small farm on the side. Someone came out of the cottage in a red hood, going into the little coop at the side.
The archer sighed to herself, thinking, "Snow, what did you get yourself into this time?"
Meanwhile, in the chicken coop, Snow braced herself behind one of the stalls with two eggs in her hands. She held her breath, trying to keep steady, as she watched the red-clad woman collect eggs from beneath the chickens.

"How does Brooklyn do this so easily?" She thought to herself. She felt her heart pump faster as the woman paused, feeling a little unsettled.

Snow then couldn't handle the adrenaline pumping in her, so she surrendered herself and held out the two eggs that were in her hands. "I'm sorry. I can go,"

The red-cloaked woman was stunned as her eyes switched between Snow and the eggs. "Are you stealing our eggs?"

"No," Snow immediately said, then realized how ridiculous it was to deny it while she was holding two out. "Not a lot...,"

Having noticed the fear in her voice, the woman refused the eggs, saying, "Hey, hey, it's alright,"

"Thank you," Snow sighed. "It was just that last night..., There was something out there. There was howling and...,"

"Hey. Come on, come with me," The woman consoled, walking towards the door. "Everyone calls me Red,"

"I'm Sn —" She stopped herself. "Frosty,"

Just then, the door was kicked open and Brooklyn came in with her bow armed.

Red turned around wide-eyed at the cloaked archer while Snow met Brooklyn's eyes, which were very angry.

"Brook —," Snow burst, before stopping herself yet again.

The said archer dropped her bow and huffed in frustration."

Again

with the name dropping!"

Red was staring at the archer with wide eyes, having heard of the stories surrounding The Legend, the ruthless archer."Wh-who's this?"

The archer answered her question, growling, "Well, she already said it, so just call me Brooke," She then motioned to Snow. "I was just...looking for...,"

Red filled the archer in. "Frosty,"
Brooklyn shot Snow a look. "Frosty? Are you kidding me?"
"Look, you said I shouldn't be giving out my name when someone's onto us and —,"

"Are you serious?!" Brooklyn snapped. "You told her the details?!"

Red cut in, having noticed Brooklyn's growing frustration. "Y-You don't have to trust me yet. I-I get it. I just need something to call you,"

"Uh, Margaret," Snow shook her head, pausing. "No— Mary,"

Red nodded her head while Brooklyn proceeded to hit herself on the head with the edge of her bow.

"Well then, Mary and Brooke, come on," Red said.

Snow genuinely smiled at the brunette, placing the eggs into Red's basket as the latter cautiously walked behind Brooklyn.

When the three were out of the coop, the archer turned to Red, saying, "Since uh..., Mary already filled you in with the details, looks like I'm going to have to trust you,"

Red only smiled back tightly, still wary about Brooke, and nodded, saying, "I-I just got to bring in some water before we go in. It'll just take a second,"

Mary followed Red into the forest and Brooke trailed behind, listening to their conversation.

"What was all that howling?" Mary asked.

"It's Wolves' Time — killer wolf out there," Red explained to her as they reached the well. Mary helped her pull the bucket up and Brooke had wandered off somewhere as the brunette continued, "As big as a pony, but a lot more bloodthirsty. It's been stalking the area pretty regularly. It kills cattle and it sticks sometimes,"

The two managed to grab the bucket and their faces were plastered with utter shock and horror as Mary exclaimed, "Brooke, look at this. Look at the water,"

"Is it worse than this?" Was the only answer they heard.

Red and Mary diverted their attention from the bloody water to the archer, who found an entire group of corpses slaughtered with their blood splattered all over the snow.
Brooklyn decided to head up to Mary-Margaret's loft and she went in without knocking. Emma, Mary-Margaret, and Ruby perked up at the sound of the door, but immediately relaxed when she saw the teenager come in."Hey Brooklyn, how'd you get in?" She asked her.Brooklyn simply held her hand up and dangled her keys, saying, "I have a key,""How's your head?" Mary-Margaret chimed in. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?""Head's a lot better," Brooklyn answered before switching her gaze to Ruby, saying "I texted you earlier that I couldn't make it. Looks like you couldn't either,"Ruby shook her head at the brunette, setting her spoon down. "Nah, I quit. Had a fight with Granny last night,""Mind if I join you guys for breakfast?" Brooklyn asked, and Mary-Margaret nodded immediately, saying, "Sure! I'll get you a plate,"The teenager smiled at Mary-Margaret's eagerness and took the seat beside Ruby, asking, "So..., what's next for you then?"Ruby simply shrugged, playing with her food, "I don't know honestly. After I left Granny's, I just packed up and headed out. Mary-Margaret and Emma were just kind enough to let me stay here with them,"Brooklyn then turned to Mary-Margaret, who was setting a plate in front of the teenager, and said, "You sure you've got enough space? I mean, I have room in my apartment,"Mary-Margaret nodded her head. "She's staying in your room here for now, but Ruby, if you want to move in with Brooklyn—,"The said teenager cut her off, grinning at her friend as she pleaded, "Please Ruby?"Ruby grinned back and told Mary-Margaret, "Sure, I can stay with Brooklyn,""Then, you two can move in together after you eat," Mary-Margaret smiled, sitting back on her chair.Brooklyn immediately dug in, going for the pancakes. A smile slipped onto Emma's face as she watched Brooklyn be so at ease."Why don't you both come with me to the sheriff's station this afternoon?" She suggested to Brooklyn and Ruby. "Since, you know, both of you aren't working today,"Ruby perked up, saying, "I'd love to!" while Brooklyn simply shrugged, "Why not?"
"The one thing I know is, that last night was the very last massacre!"

The men in the tavern cheer in agreement as the leader continued. "You know, if I had stayed with that party for another ten minutes, I, too, would be among the dead,"

Granny and Red slipped into the room with Brooklyn and Snow behind them, faces covered in masks.

"And when I think if I'd only doubled back, maybe... I could've caught it in the act. Maybe, I would've been able to slay the creature,"

"You would not," Granny interrupted, walking to the center of the tavern.

"Widow Lucas," The leader said, acknowledging the woman.

"This creature is more powerful than you can imagine. You wouldn't stand a chance," Granny told him before turning to the rest of the people. "Stay inside, hide your children, forget your livestock."

"You said all this before," The man dismissed her.

"But I haven't said how I know."

This silenced the tavern as they listened intently to the woman.

"Nearly threescore years ago, I was a child with six older brothers — big as oak trees, all of them veterans of the Second Ogres War — and my father, the biggest of them all. Come one Wolves' Time, he decided to go out and take on the wolf. A different wolf back then, of course, but just as fearsome. They went out there to protect me. I was supposed to be asleep, but I crawled out on the roof to watch and lay down in the thatch. They had the beast surrounded, the seven of them, with spears all pointed in at it, and then it started. It was lunging — not at the men, at the spears- grabbing with its teeth, breaking the shafts. They stabbed it with the splintered end, but it didn't matter. It tore their throats so fast, that not one of them got a chance to scream... Or pray... Or say goodbye. When my father died, I tumbled from the roof, and I landed in the blood in front of the wolf. I felt its breath on my face. Then, it clamped its hot jaw on my arm, and I rolled away."

Granny removed her gloves and pulled her sleeve back, revealing to everyone large, parallel scars on her arm. The men whispered amongst themselves while some looked away.

"Then, it looked at me with eyes so black they weren't even there and it walked away. You ever see a wild animal just turn its back and walk away like you don't matter? If this wolf is like that one, there is no defeating it. It's already won just by existing in our world. You don't kill it — you just hide,"

Later, back in the cottage, Brooklyn sat on a chair across from Granny. Red and Snow were in the former's room.

Brooklyn was resharpening her arrows when Granny spoke up. "So... What made the Legend decide to reveal herself to us?"

The archer looked up from her task with a look in her eyes,
"Had my friend not blurted it out, I wouldn't have given my name at all,"

Granny smiled knowingly and said, "I figured. Don't worry, it'll be our little secret,"

The archer shook her head lightly at the woman, saying, "Why aren't you afraid of me? Most people who figure that out either run or try to call the queen's guards on me,"

"You haven't done anything to threaten me and Red yet, so why would I?" She answered. "Plus, we need a little more muscle during Wolves' Time. I may be tough, but another arrow would be

very

helpful,"

Brooklyn let out a soft chuckle. She hasn't had a normal conversation with anyone else aside from Snow in a very long time.

"I'm just going to go get some firewood for tonight," She told Granny, and the woman nodded with a smile.

The archer placed her arrows in her quiver and headed out with just her sword on her belt, deciding that one blade was sufficient enough for her task. She gathered enough wood in a couple of minutes and dropped it off near the cottage when she heard voices not far by.

"That is a rabbit. What we're looking for will be huge — like a dog print, but big. Like eight inches across with big, long claws," The first voice said.

"Like these?" The archer recognized Snow's
— o
r Mary's
—
voice immediately, and Red was probably with her.

She followed the conversation and narrowed her eyes at the pair when she found them. "What are you two doing?"

"Brooke," Mary looked up from the ground, slightly startled by her voice. "We're
—
,"

She was cut off by Red, who gasped, "Oh my god, how big is this thing?"

Mary's attention was brought back to the ground and her eyes widened, "This was one stride? From here... to there?"

Brooke's eyes followed what the two were looking at, and her eyes widened as she made a conclusion.

"You guys are hunting the wolf?" She asked them, rather angrily. "

By yourselves

?"

"We're not hunting the wolf," Mary whispered to Brooke while Red was preoccupied with the trail. "We're just looking for where it's been,"

Brooke simply gave her a look and said, "That is exactly what someone would do when they're planning to hunt something down,"

Mary opened her mouth to speak, but Red called them over. "Come on, over there! Through the brush and off towards the hill,"

The pair followed Red as she followed the trail.

"Here's another one," Mary said.

Brooke went ahead of the two, being more familiar with tracking animals, and spotted another one, saying, "Here,"

She bent down to look at the print and her eyes narrowed at the odd shape of it, saying, "It's half-wolf, half-boot,"

"What?" Mary asked, appearing beside the archer. "Wolves don't wear boots,"

"This wolf apparently does," Brooke told her sarcastically. She narrowed her eyes to the rest of the trail. "It continues on like a human. Like it was both,"

"What kind of creature is this?" Mary asked Red and Brooke with a hint of fear in her eyes.

Brooke got up, walking behind Mary with Red close by.

"Wolves' Time is once a month," Red told them. "On a full moon. There's a story I heard once about a creature
—
,"

The girl was interrupted by Brooke, who turned around and asked, "Aren't we awfully close to the cottage?"

"Red, who's gone to your window?" They heard Mary ask, and the two caught up to her as Red asked, "Why?"

Red's face fell as her question was answered. The trail led up to her bedroom window.

"Is it Peter, Red?" Mary asked her with a sad look.

At the mention of Peter, Brooke felt all the blood rush out of her face, though it couldn't be seen past the mask. "Who's Peter?" She asked Mary.

"He's Red's boyfriend," At this, the archer felt herself relax and mentally sigh. It's not

her

Peter. "Red, was he at your window?"

"Last night," Red told her. "Before the killings, and he never joined the guys to hunt the wolf,"

"But I'm sure he wouldn't have killed them," Mary tried to console Red, and Red shook her head, saying, "He wouldn't, but when the wolf takes over, we're not so sure,"

A thought crossed Brooke's mind and she asked, "What about tonight's hunting party?"

"They're going to kill him," Red said, looking down with fear. "Or he's going to kill them,"

"It doesn't have to be that way," Mary told her, and Red and Brooke look at her, confused.

"What can we do?" Red asked.

"Tell him," Mary immediately said. "If he doesn't know, tell him. Stop him. If he'll listen to anyone, if he'll believe anyone, it's you,"

It was then Brooke realized how Snow had influenced their new friend when Red hopefully asked, "You think I can save him?"

"I think you can save everyone," Mary said.

"It's going to be dark soon. Granny will be out of her mind with worry if we're not home. She'll go out there. Mary, this is so bad,"

Brooke stepped into the conversation with a look in her eyes, saying, "Then do something,"

Red meets the archer's hard gaze with her tear-stricken face and agreed. "You're right. I have to,"
"Want to be a bike messenger?" Henry asked Ruby, who was seated beside him as he searched for different jobs for her. Brooklyn was sprawled on the couch with her arm covering her eyes.Ruby, who was seated beside the teenager, looked at the young boy and asked, "Bike messenger?"The phone on the desk rang as Brooklyn answered her without moving from her position. "That's about taking things to people in a little basket. Like a delivery person of some sort,""Nope. You see I'm not so great at bike riding," Ruby told her, fiddling with a pencil."How about taking things on foot to people in a little basket?" Henry asked."I don't think that's a real job, Henry," Brooklyn told the boy with a deadpan tone.The phone on the desk rang again, and Ruby narrowed her eyes at it, asking, "Why does the phone keep doing that?""Oh, the non-emergency calls go to a machine when Emma's busy," Henry said.The phone rang another time, but this time, Ruby picked it up. "Sheriff's station — how can I help you? Mhm! I'll get her to return. Thank you too,"She answered the next call as well, "Sheriff's station. Hey Miss Ginger! Uh, no, that's not a prowler. That's Archie's dog, Pongo,""Throw him a vanilla wafer; he'll quiet down," Brooklyn told Ruby, which the girl tells the caller to do.The teenager decided to sit up from her position when she spotted Emma come into the office. The two make eye contact, and Emma smiles at Brooklyn."How's it going, you guys?" Emma asked after Ruby finished with the call."Great, except I can't do anything," Ruby said."I'm sure that's not true. I just saw you on the phone. That was good," Emma said, to which Ruby told her, "That? That's nothing,"Emma objected, saying, "No. No, it isn't,"Ruby sighed, slumping on her chair, and Emma thought for a moment."I actually have some money in the budget if you want to help out around here," She suggested.Ruby immediately stood up, excited at the proposal. "Yes! Thank you! Yes, um, I could answer phones and help out. Um, is there anything else that you need done? Organize files, cleaning up? Please, I want to be useful,""I'm swamped with the Kathryn Nolan thing. If you maybe want to grab us lunch?" Emma said. "I would never say no to grilled cheese,"Ruby grinned. "Done. Henry, Brooklyn, you want anything?""Two chocolate chip cookies, an apple pie, and a hot dog," Henry told her, making Brooklyn laugh."Not so fast, kiddo. You ate at school," The teenager told him before turning to Ruby, saying, "You can get him a cookie though. I'll pass,"The red-streaked woman tilted her head, glancing at her friend head-to-toe, and said, "I'll get you a cup of coffee. You look like you need it,"Brooklyn simply smiled at her in thanks. Ruby turned to leave when Mary-Margaret entered the office."Hey! Lunch, Mary-Margaret? I'm getting for everyone," Ruby asked the woman, who shook her head immediately, albeit startled by the sudden question, and said, "Uh, no, I'm not hungry,"Ruby nodded then left.Mary-Margaret gave herself a moment before blurting out, "David's in the woods,"This caught Brooklyn and Henry's attention, who looked between Emma and Mary-Margaret as the dark-haired woman continued, "There's something wrong with him. He looked right through me. It's like... It's like he was a different person,"Emma glanced back at Brooklyn and Henry, and the three shared a concerned look.
Later that night, Brooklyn stood guard outside while Granny, Mary, and Red were inside the house. She held her bow in her hand with her sword strapped to her waist and her arrows slung on her shoulder.

Suddenly, Granny barged out of the cottage with an urgent look in her eyes. The archer immediately noticed the crossbow in her hands as the woman said, "Brooke, come on! We gotta get to Red and Peter

now

!"

The archer immediately followed her, Snow not far behind, while Granny filled the two in with what she knew about Red.

"You knew?" Snow asked afterward, astounded.

"Of course I knew," Granny answered. "Her mother was one, too, before a hunting party killed her. I thought maybe Red didn't get it, but when she was thirteen, it started. I paid a wizard for that cloak —keeps her from turning — but she doesn't wear it, and she's found some way out of the house,"

Brooklyn was quiet the whole time as Granny led the way.

"Why didn't you tell her?" Snow asked.

"I didn't want her to have that burden. It's a terrible burden," The woman turned around momentarily.

"The story you told —,"

Snow was cut off by Granny, saying, "That was her grandfather. He marked me that night. Then came back, found me, turned me,"

The three stopped as they heard a howl, and a thought crossed Brooklyn's mind, making her furrow her eyebrows and ask the woman, "Granny, how are you tracking Red?"

"By smell," The woman answered. "I still have that, even though the rest of it has faded away. Gods, I was a fool to think I could keep this from her,"

Granny shook her head at herself, continuing, "I am a fool and I have cost so many lives,"

"But you didn't mean to," Snow consoled. "That's the main thing,"

"Is it?"

The group heard the howl again, and Granny handed Brooklyn an arrow, saying, "Here, shoot this at her when I tell you to,"

The archer nodded and notched it on her bow. Snow whimpered at the idea, and the other two shushed her.

"The silver-tipped arrow will drop her," Granny whispered to Brooklyn. "I trust you know what to do,"

The archer nodded and slowly approached the clearing. Brooklyn smelled a fire burning, telling her that was the place where the couple made camp, and soon saw wolf devouring several body parts.

Brooklyn uncomfortably tightened her grip at the sight and focused her eyes on the wolf. She waited for the right moment to shoot when Snow accidentally snapped a twig beneath her foot, causing the wolf to turn around.

"Brooke!" Granny yelled with wide eyes, but the archer was completely calm as her eyes stayed on her target, saying, "I got it,"

The wolf lunged at the archer's weapon, and Brooke released the arrow where it wouldn't hurt it as much.

"Cloak!" Granny said, and Snow immediately removed the said cloth from her back and covered the wolf. A wave of magic surged through, turning the wolf back to Red.

Snow had a sad look in her eyes as she saw the body parts in the camp and said, "It's too late. He's gone,"

Red heard this, though still disoriented, and asked, "Who's gone?"

No one answered her as Brooklyn heard something at a distance. She looked up and spotted several torches in sight, and Granny looked up from Red, following the archer's eyes, to see the hunting party.

"Get up, girl," Granny told Red. "Get ready to run,"

"What's going on?" Red asked again.

"Don't you hear them?" Granny told her, referring to the group of men approaching their area.

Snow helped the red-clad woman up, trying to avert her attention from the clearing, and told her friend, "We have to go,"

Red shook her head and asked, "Go? I don't understand,"

"I'll explain it later," Snow urged. "We must hurry,"

"What? I'm confused. What's happened?" Red turned around against Snow and Granny's grip and her face froze as she remembered something. "Where's Peter?"

Red tried looking at the camp only to see dismantled body parts and blood splattered on the snow. She looked at Granny, Snow, and Brooke, asking the question with her eyes.

Snow looked at the girl with sorrow, saying, "He wasn't the wolf,"

Red turned to her Granny with more fearful eyes, asking, "Granny?"

The said woman had regret written all over her face as she told her, "I was wrong to keep it from you, but now, you have to go. Red, go!"

Brooklyn turned at the shouting of the hunters getting louder as Red whimpered, "It's me? Oh god, it's me,"

"Red, go!" Granny urged, but Red fell into the woman's arms, crying, "I don't want to go like this,"

"You have to," Brooklyn said, taking an arrow out of her quiver.

Snow took Red with her, and the latter wrestled against her, as she said, "It's okay. It's going to be okay,"

"SNOW, GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" At that point, Brooklyn couldn't care less about the name drop. She just wanted to make sure her friend was safe.

The archer pointed her arrow towards the hunting party and Granny joined her, arming her crossbow.
Brooklyn watched as Henry hid his book in one of the drawers in the sheriff's station. Emma then tossed the keys to the teenager so Henry could lock the drawer."I don't mean to kick you guys out, but I got to go see if David's in some kind of trouble out there," Emma said, walking over to them."It's okay. We're supposed to meet my mom," Henry told her, giving her back the keys once he locked the drawer. "There,""Nice," Emma said. Brooklyn stood up from her seat and waited for Henry by the door, leaning against the wall as she did."You know, you can let Ruby do more. She's Little Red Riding Hood," Henry told his mom."With the little basket?" Emma asked."Ruby seems a lot more badass than that, kiddo," Brooklyn added.Emma looked at Brooklyn disapprovingly at her choice of words, and the teenager simply shrugged in return as Henry said, "She is. She just doesn't remember how cool she is or what she's capable of, but it's true,"Ruby then came in with a paper bag and three cups, and Henry's eyes lit up. "Hey, Ruby!"The woman smiled back at him, setting the paper bag down and taking out a cookie. "Hey, Henry! I got your cookie,"The boy excitedly thanked her and took the cookie, and Ruby handed Brooklyn a cup. "And here's a cup of coffee as promised. Oh, and I told Granny you couldn't make it this morning,"The teenager grinned at her friend and said, "Thanks, Ruby! We gotta go or Regina's gonna kill us. Come on, Henry,"With that, the two left the sheriff station with their treats in hand.Later that night, Ruby sat on the couch in Brooklyn's apartment in her pajamas, staring into nothing as Brooklyn prepared two cups of hot cocoa for them."So...," Brooklyn spoke up, noticing how quiet her friend was. "How was the first day as Emma's assistant?"The teenager sat beside Ruby, handing her a mug, and Ruby sighed, saying, "It was... a lot more eye-opening than I expected,""Eye-opening?" Brooklyn asked. " What'd you guys find?""More like, what I found," Ruby corrected her, taking a sip of the cocoa before continuing. "After we found David in the woods, Emma told me to go back there and find anything unusual. It sounded like she was in a rush, but I went back there, by the toll bridge and...,"Ruby stopped herself, shaking her head as she took another sip."What happened?" Brooklyn asked."I found this... this box and...," Ruby's mouth fumbled for the words. "It had a human heart inside,"Brooklyn's eyes widened and she said, "What?"Ruby let out a shaky breath and said, "I know right,"The teenager shook her head at the thought and asked, "You don't think someone...,"Ruby got the idea despite the brunette trailing off and said, "Emma said she'll run tests on the box and the heart tomorrow,"Brooklyn simply nodded, not knowing what else to say, and the two sip their cocoa in silence."I'm going back to work tomorrow, with Granny," Ruby spoke up. "I don't think the sheriff's work is for me. Now that I think of it, my fight with her was a little bit... ridiculous,"Brooklyn gave her a small smile, saying, "That's nice. I'm sure Granny'll welcome you back,""I hope so," Ruby said, raising her eyebrows.She stood up and walked over to the kitchen, setting her cup on the counter. Ruby paused, smelling something unusual, and looked around for the source.Brooklyn watched her friend in confusion and asked, "Ru, you okay?"Ruby, still occupied with searching, said, "I smell somethi— oh my god,"Brooklyn set her mug down and walked over to her, wondering what Ruby found."Brooklyn, did you drink all this?"The teenager immediately knew what she was talking about and looked at the bin filled with several empty whiskey bottles.Brooklyn simply shrugged it off, saying, "That's not a lot,"Ruby shook her head at the teenager, saying, "Not a lot? Brooke, how long have you been drinking?"Brooklyn pout her lips slightly, not really giving the question a lot of thought as she said, "Don't remember,""Since I asked you about it?" Ruby asked."Maybe a little bit before that?" Brooklyn corrected her with a shrug. "It's fine, Ru—,"The woman cut her off, saying, "It's not fine, Brooke. That is is a scary amount of alcohol you've been drinking,""Well, I'm standing up straight and breathing fine, so there's nothing to worry about," Brooklyn told her. She knew she wasn't okay, but she refused to say it out loud.Ruby saw through Brooklyn's response and gave the teenager a doubtful look, saying, "That's what you told me the last time I asked you about this,"Brooklyn turned around sighed, rubbing her face with her hands.Ruby looked at her friend worriedly and asked, "Brooklyn, what are you not telling me?"That's when the teenager snapped, raising her voice as she said, "You're not my mom, Ruby, and I haven't turned into a goddamn werewolf or a living zombie yet so what the hell is the big deal about this?!"Ruby froze at her sudden outburst, noticing the fury in Brooklyn's eyes."Brooke," Ruby uttered, her voice lowering to a whisper. She hadn't seen that kind of look in the teenager's eyes before. "Calm down,"Brooklyn then snapped out of her state, eyes softening from rage to fear. She shook her head and muttered, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry,"Ruby walked over to her friend and led her to the couch."Brooke, what's going on?" She whispered, sitting beside her.Brooklyn rested her elbows on her knees and placed her head in between her hands, shaking her head. "I don't know," She admittedRuby gently rubbed the teenager's back as Brooklyn continued talking, "It's... These dreams I'm having — the visions. They're like memories of me — but not really me at the same time — and they make me do these things I can't really control, like a few seconds ago,""Have you tried with Archie?" Ruby asked."I don't want to," Brooklyn told her. "There're these constant pains in my head and some weird trigger words that cause chest pains. I sound crazy, but they're exactly like Henry's book,""Who else knows about this?""Aside from you?" Brooklyn said. "Emma; but she doesn't even know why I drink. She just knows I do,""Don't worry, I'll be here for you. I can tell Granny you're not coming to work for the next few days,"All Brooklyn could do was give her a tight smile. "Thanks, Ru,"

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"RED, LOOK OUT!"

James yelled upon catching sight of a flaming arrow headed for the red-clad woman.

Brooklyn looked up from where she was seated at their campsite and caught the flaming arrow right before it hit Red. The woman was wide-eyed, both at the archer and the flaming arrow, which was tossed into the snow, extinguishing the fire.

"We need to move," The prince said quickly as he spotted a group of knights headed towards them. "They found us,"

James started running towards his horse and Brooklyn looked out at the army, notching an arrow on her bow and successfully hitting one of the knights off his horse.
James reached his hand out to Red, but she refused, saying, "Both of you go! I'll take care of them,"
The prince simply shook his head at her. "Red, I'm not leaving you,"

"Find Snow!" Red urged, glancing at Brooklyn who had mounted her horse. "That's all that matters. Find her!"

"What are you going to do?" James asked.

Red and Brooklyn both looked up to see a full moon and the two exchanged glances. Brooklyn gave the woman a nod and galloped away, understanding Red's plan.

"I'm giving you a head start,"

James watched as the brunette took her red hood off and her eyes glowed yellow. The prince then understood, whipping his horse's reigns to catch up with Brooklyn just as he heard a howl.
Emma hesitated in front of Brooklyn's apartment, debating how to tell the teenager about the news. To say the previous day was shocking was an understatement. The blonde took a breath, clenching her fist, before knocking on the door. She waited a few moments, then proceeded to knock again when there was no response."JUST A SEC!" The teenager's muffled voice said at the other end. It took a few seconds, but Brooklyn eventually opened the door with her flight jacket thrown over her pajamas."Hey... Sorry to wake you," Emma apologized, seeing the teenager's droopy eyes.Brooklyn shook her head lightly, rubbing her face, and said, "Don't worry, I look like this every day,"Emma only let out a nervous laugh and said, "Look, I don't know how to say this to you, but...,"The blonde woman looked at the teenager in pity, causing Brooklyn to give her an expectant look as Emma continued, "We found evidence that may be connected to Kathryn's disappearance,"Brooklyn nodded and said, "Yeah, the box with the, uh..., heart in it. Ruby mentioned it,"Emma nodded nervously. "We ran tests on it and the box... It had Mary-Margaret's fingerprints on it,"Brooklyn only stared at the woman disbelief. "No," She uttered, shaking her head. "Mary-Margaret won't go that far,""I know she wouldn't," Emma agreed with the teenager. "But that's what the results are saying, so I need to find more proof that it wasn't her,""We are finding proof," Brooklyn corrected. "I'm coming with you,"Emma nodded immediately. "Good, 'cause that's what I came here to ask you about,"Brooklyn held her finger out as she told her, "Just give me a few moments to change,"The door shut, and a few minutes later, Brooklyn emerged with her flight jacket over a different set of clothes.Brooklyn watched as Emma scaled Mary-Margaret's door for any sign of breakage, asking, "What kind of evidence are you looking for?""I'm suspecting this is a frame job," Emma told her. "So I need evidence of someone breaking in, like busted door jambs, broken glass or muddy boot prints. You know, that kind of thing,"Brooklyn went ahead and checked one of the windows for any signs of forced opening as she told Emma, "You know, if that person left any of those, then they aren't doing their job well enough,""And you know this, how?" Emma skeptically asked Brooklyn.The teenager stopped, shrugging as she turned to face the woman. "Most important rule of stealing: don't get caught,"Suddenly, Henry came into the apartment with a grin as he heard Brooklyn speak through the open door. "Hey, Brooke!"The brunette's eyes widened as she turned to face the boy. "Henry, what are you doing here?""Yeah, kid, aren't you supposed to be in school?" Emma asked him.Henry ignored the two and replied, "We have to help Ms. Blanchard,""That's why we're searching the apartment, but you gotta get to school," Emma said.Henry smiled cheekily at her as he said, "Not gonna happen,"Brooklyn simply smirked to herself, shaking her head at Henry, as Emma told him, "Just stay out of the way. Brooklyn, you can take Mary-Margaret's room. I'll check upstairs,"The teenager nodded and headed for her guardian's room beside the kitchen with Henry following behind her."So, what are we looking for?" Henry asked his babysitter.Brooklyn scaled the window behind the bed as she said, "We're trying to see if someone broke in, but I'm not so sure if we're going to get that kind of proof here, kiddo,"The teenager sighed as she picked up the photo frame on Mary-Margaret's nightstand. It was a photo of her and her guardian, grinning ear to ear with ice cream in hand."Is it because of what you told Emma?" Henry asked her. "About the most important rule of stealing?"Brooklyn placed the photo back on the table, raising her brow at the ten-year-old. "You heard that?"Henry shrugged with a small smirk. "Yeah, and that was a pretty Jones thing to say,"She simply gave him a look and said, "First, that's my smirk," She pointed at him with a smile on her face, which only widened the said smirk on Henry's face. "Second, I thought you said Brooklyn Jones helped the other fairy tales get their happy endings? Y'know, The Legend kinda thing...?"Henry confirmed her statement, saying, "She did, but that doesn't mean she did her own things, like steal, hunt, kill...,""Hold on...! Kill?!" Brooklyn stopped him before he could continue. "That book's a lot gorier than I thought it was,""Why? Have you killed before?" Henry asked curiously.The question made Brooklyn pause, though she made sure Henry didn't notice. "I'm not capable of that, Henry,"She had once. She was nine? Ten?"Have you stolen or hunted for anything before?" Henry asked again, trying to tick out the other options. Brooklyn immediately knew the answer was yes to both options, but instead, she said, "Okay, kiddo, let's continue with helping Mary-Margaret,"The teenager walked past Henry when she accidentally tripped on a vent. The two both narrowed their eyes at it as Brooklyn knelt and took the grate off."Did you find anything?" Henry asked, peeking at what Brooklyn had stuck her hand in for.The teenager took out a piece of cloth, unwrapping it to reveal a hunting knife. Brooklyn then looked up at Henry and they shared a worried look.
Brooklyn and James jumped down their horse, with the latter kneeling to study a print on the snow. Brooklyn followed the prince as he followed the trail to come across a butt-naked man.

"Put your hands where I can see them," James demanded, and the man slowly turned around, holding a helmet up to his... crotch.
"On second thought, don't," Brooklyn said, shaking her head.
James quickly took a blanket from his horse and tossed it at the man, who gratefully wrapped it around him.

"Who did this?" James asked him.

"She's crazy," The man replied, still shaken up from his encounter. "She had a pickax. She threatened to skin me...," The man glanced at Brooklyn and recognized her below her hood. "Something Brooklyn Jones would do,"

Brooklyn simply glared at him as James asked, "The Evil Queen?"

"No," The man immediately replied, shaking his head repeatedly. "Snow White,"

James drew his sword to the man's neck at the mention of her name with a disbelieving and defensive look on his face. "What?"

"She said she wanted to kill the Queen," The man explained. "She's bloodthirsty,"

"No, Snow is not like that- she is not a killer. I know her," James denied.

The man lightly shook his head. "Maybe you don't,"
Later that afternoon, Henry came into Granny's diner and sat one of the stools, plopping his book bag onto the counter."Everything alright, Henry?" Ruby asked the boy. She then realized that Brooklyn wasn't with him and she added, "Where's Brooklyn?"Henry sighed, saying, "Brooklyn's visiting Ms. Blanchard in the sheriff's station,"Ruby nodded her head sadly. "Yeah, I heard about that. You want some hot cocoa to cheer you up?"The boy smiled at her offer and said, "Yes, please,"The brunette proceeded to prepare a cup for him and she made her way around the counter to sprinkle the cinnamon on. Henry glumly rested his hand on his first while waiting.Just then, August came in and sat down beside the ten-year-old, noticing his mood. "I don't think that hot chocolate's going to drink itself,"Henry ignored him, which urged August to continue, "You're upset about your teacher, aren't you?""She didn't do it," Henry told him. "Why can't anyone see that?""Because most people just see what's right in front of them," August stated. "And I don't think you're going to find the answers you want at the bottom of that mug,""Then where?" Henry asked him, taking a sip of his cocoa."That book in your bag?" August said, which caused Henry to look at it. "You know I'm a writer, so I'm partial to finding my answers in a literary form,"The boy lightly shook his head and turned his attention away from the book. "It's just a book,"August raised a brow at him. "Is it?""Yeah," Henry immediately replied, still not looking at the man."I think we both know that's not the case," August told him knowingly, then raised his hand up at Ruby, saying, "Can I get a water, please?"This made Henry scrunch up his eyebrows, suddenly interested, and he asked him, "What do you know about it?""I know it's a book of stories," August said, to which Henry commented, "Aren't all books?""Stories... that really happened," August finished.Henry's eyes lit up immediately. "You think my book is real?""As real as I am," August confirmed."How do you know?"August paused, thinking of a suitable answer. "Well let's just say that, uh, I'm a believer, and I want to help others see the light. That, my friend, is why I'm here,""But I already believe," Henry told him.The man corrected him, saying, "Oh, I'm not here for you, buddy. I'm here for Emma,""So, you want to get her to believe? Why don't you just tell her?""Well, there are some people—like you and me—that can go on faith," August explained. "But others—like Emma—need proof," Henry sighed, saying, "Last time I tried to find proof, I got trapped in a sinkhole and endangered my best friend,""There are less dangerous places to look," August encouraged, reaching for Henry's book bag. Henry took the cue and took the book out, opening it to a certain page.August watched as the boy did so before standing up to leave, realizing that the boy was already engrossed by the book."Henry,"The said boy looked up at whoever called him and met eyes with Ruby, who continued whispering, "You know, Brooklyn's probably going to kill me for this, but I think you can help her,"This intrigued Henry and he asked, "How can I help her?"Ruby looked around, checking to see if no one was paying attention, and said, "She told me that she's having these dreams and it's worrying her. She told me they sound like your book, so I figured that you'd be the best person I'd ask for help from,"Henry's face lit up at this, saying, "She's remembering!"Ruby smiled at him, despite not knowing what he meant, and said, "Please don't tell her I told you,"Henry put his hand to his heart and grinned, "You have my word,"He proceeded to look back at his book, which was opened to a picture of Prince Charming and The Legend, with more hope in his eyes.
"Rumplestiltskin!" James called out, barging into Rumplestiltskin's castle. "Show yourself!"

Brooklyn followed the prince inside just as they heard, "Still dressing like a prince, I see,"

At the sound of his voice, Brooklyn swiftly turned around and aimed her bow at Rumplestiltskin as the man continued talking. "Even though you ran away from the life I gave you. How's that for gratitude?"

"You gave him a prison sentence," Brooklyn snarled at him, letting her bow down. She knew about the story of how James became a prince.

"Yeah, one that he's now skirted," Rumple told the archer. "Careful, dearies. King George is a vengeful man, and I heard he's after your head as well,"

Rumple pointed his finger at Brooklyn, who said, "I'm aware, just don't care enough,"

"I'm here about Snow," James said. "Rumor has it she's after the Queen and she came to you for help,"

"Yes, indeed," Rumplestiltskin confirmed.

James pulled his sword out and pointed it to Rumple, causing him to jump.

"What did you do to her?" The prince demanded.

"What did I do to her?" Rumple asked, circling the center table as he does so. "You mean, what did

you

do to her.

You

caused her pain. Without that pain, she would never have drunk my potion to forget about you. That's what changed her,"

"Then undo the potion," Brooklyn stated.

Rumple stopped and grinned at that. "Oh, but you see? Only

twue wove

can break this spell,"

Brooklyn rolled her eyes at the man's baby talk as James said, "So that's it then? True love's kiss will awaken her,"

Rumplestiltskin nodded his head. "Most certainly, but it's going to be hard to kiss her when you don't know where she is,"

Rumplestiltskin swatted the prince's sword away and slowly walked away from the pair with a laugh.

James eyed the man, sheathing his sword, and said, "Name your price,"

Rumplestiltskin stopped, thinking about it for a moment, and turned to face him. "How about... your cloak?"

Brooklyn scrunched her eyebrows underneath her hood at the man's price.

James, who was just as confused, asked, "My cloak? Why would you want my cloak?"

"It's drafty in here," Rumple simply answered.

"If you wanted to play dress-up, you could've just said so," Brooklyn told him with a smirk.

Rumplestiltskin's face twisted into a scowl as he said to the archer, "Oh, trust me, dearie, I'm saving that for another day. I'm going to need a price from you as well,"

Brooklyn stepped forward with a look of objection in her eyes, saying, "This is not my deal, it's his,"

She nodded her head towards the prince, who had placed his cloak on the center table.

"But you're here with him, so you have to pay the price as well," He told her with his own smirk. "Don't worry, I just want two strings of your hair,"

The archer narrowed her eyes at his odd request, and the man simply grinned at her.

"I'm still trying to figure out if you accidentally got some of that glitter up your ass," Brooklyn said, taking off her hood and plucking out two strings of hair off her head.

Rumple happily took the strands from her, then addressed James, who was waiting for the two to finish.

"She's on her way to the Queen's Highway," Rumple told him, producing a map in his hand, "This is the route she's taking, but you better be quick. Because, if she kills the Queen, she becomes as evil as the woman whose life she takes,"

The prince shook his head at him, saying, "She could never become that evil,"

"Evil isn't born dearie. It's made. Just like how it's done to The Legend here—"

The said archer cut him off, saying, "Watch where you're stepping,

Crocodile

. You don't know a thing about me,"

Rumple simply ignored her and continued. "If Snow White starts down that road, you'll never get her back,"

Rumplestiltskin simply smirked to himself as James and Brooklyn rushed out of the castle, with the archer glaring at him before leaving. He then took the prince's cloak in his left hand while holding Brooklyn's hair on the right.

"Looks like I'm going to learn more than a thing or two about our outsider," Rumple said to himself, waving the strands of hair as he headed back inside. "This so-called Legend," 
"The heating vent?" Mary-Margaret asked Emma and Brooklyn again from behind the bars. "Emma, I don't even know where the heating vent in my bedroom is,"Brooklyn wrapped her hand around one of the bars, and Mary-Margaret leaned her head against it as the teenager said, "I didn't either, but I somehow kicked it open and the hunting knife was in there,""Well, someone knew where it is and left no signs of a break-in," Emma added, to which Brooklyn muttered, "Told you,"Emma simply shot the teenager a look as Mary-Margaret lifted her head from Brooklyn's hand and said, "You don't believe me,""Of course I do," Emma told her. "But what I think doesn't matter. The evidence is piling up by the hour,""So what are you suggesting?" Brooklyn asked her."I'm saying, you should think about hiring a lawyer," Emma said."An excellent idea,"The three turn around at the new voice, and Mary-Margaret looked up, saying, "Mr. Gold,""What are you doing here?" Emma asked, skeptical.Gold answered, rather matter-of-factly, "Offering my legal services,"Brooklyn snorted. "You're a lawyer?"Mr. Gold gave her a look and said, "Ever wondered why I was so adept at contracts?"The teenager raised a brow at him and crossed her arms, smirking as she retorted, "Because you like getting what you want?"Emma held Brooklyn's arm, motioning her to stop. The teenager simply continued smirking at the man.Mr. Gold's face twisted slightly at the remarks that were coming out of her. If there was one thing he hated about having to talk to The Legend back in their previous life, it was her temper and her sarcasmThe man continued, saying, "I've been following the details of your case, Ms. Blanchard, and I think you'd be well-advised to bring me on as your counsel,""And why is that?" The short-haired woman asked."Well, because the Sheriff had me arrested for nearly beating a man to death, and I managed to persuade the judge to drop the charges,""Asserting your influence isn't what's needed here," Emma protested. "We need to find the truth,""Exerting influence may be exactly what's needed here," Mr. Gold insisted, coming closer to the three."What's needed here is for me to do my job," Emma told him."Well, no one's stopping you. I'm only here to help," Gold said."Enough!" Mary-Margaret stepped in before they could say anything else. "Please go,"Brooklyn glared at Gold with her arms still crossed and said, "You heard her,""No, Brooklyn," Mary-Margaret whispered, taken aback by the teenager's short temper. "I was talking to you and Emma,"Brooklyn turned around and met her guardian's eye, silently asking if she was serious. Mary-Margaret nodded her head at the teenager and Brooklyn left the room immediately.Mary-Margaret sighed, asking Emma, "This case is hurting her, isn't it?""It's not just you. She seemed off since I became sheriff," Emma consoled, watching the teenager walk away. The blonde then turned to face her roommate. "Which is why I'm not leaving you. I'm going to do my job,"Mary-Margaret shook her head, saying, "So, just please, do your job the best you can, and you'll prove me innocent. Until you do, I need some practical help,""Trust me. This is in Miss Blanchard's best interests," Gold smiled at Emma.The blonde gave him a skeptical look, saying, "Good luck, Mary Margaret. I hope your best interests are what he's looking out for,"Meanwhile, Brooklyn got a text from Ruby as she stepped out of the sheriff's station that read, "Henry wants you to meet him in the town hall,"
"You know, for someone taught by The Legend, you're not doing a good job there," Brooklyn said, watching Snow stretch the bow's strings.

The bandit turned around to face her friend and said, "I don't have to do a good job; this arrow will find its target no matter what,"

Brooklyn raised a brow and uttered, "Wow, you're a lot more arrogant since I first met you,"

Before Snow could respond, James suddenly ambushed her from behind, wrapping his arms around Snow.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!" Snow yelled, wrestling against James's grip.

"Snow!" James tried to calm her down as she demanded, "Who are you? What are you doing?"

"I'm helping you remember," James told her and surprised Snow by kissing her.

Brooklyn felt awkward at the moment, so she decided to walk back to the horses and wait for the couple, not knowing that James would end up unconscious and tied up to a tree.
Henry and Brooklyn sat patiently on the steps in front of Mary-Margaret's apartment as the boy fiddled with the keys. They heard someone coming up, and Henry lit up to see Emma."I have proof," Henry said, holding up the ring of keys. "This is how my mom got into your apartment. This is how she framed Ms. Blanchard,"Emma took the set from him, recognizing the keys from one of her adventures with Sidney, and asked, "Did you steal these from her office?"Henry shook his head, saying, "No, Brooklyn did,"The blonde gave the said teenager a look to which she simply smirked as Henry explained the keys, "The book says these keys can open any door,""How'd you even get in without setting off any security?" Emma asked Brooklyn, shocked that she didn't get any emergency call."Because she's The Legend," Henry stated as if it were the obvious answer. He took the keys back from Emma and started trying different ones.Brooklyn shrugged, not commenting on Henry's answer as she watched the ten-year-old try to open the door. "The security system is installed on the door. Breaking the glass or picking the lock would set off the alarm, but the window? That's the loophole,"Emma simply stared at her wide-eyed and Henry only grinned, both having the same thought. The two watched as another key fails again and Emma said, "See? What did I tell you? Come on, Henry. I know you want to think the answer to everything is in Operation Cobra—,"Emma was cut off by Henry insisting, "It is!""But sometimes the real world needs to come first," Emma told him, taking out her keys to the apartment.Henry stopped her by saying, "Just try one more, please,"Emma sighed. "Okay, one more, but then we're done,"The boy smiled and handed her the keys, holding a particular one out that had an apple. "You do it. This one,"Brooklyn watched as Emma obliged and took the key from him. She slipped it into the keyhole, causing the teenager to scrunch her brows up. Emma turned the key to the right, successfully unlocking the door.Emma and Brooklyn stared at the door in shock as Henry said, "Do you believe now?"
Brooklyn had been waiting by the horses for a while, so she decided to go back and check on the prince.

The archer wasn't shocked to find him tied against the tree, but she gave a second thought as she heard him saying, "I didn't do any better. Can you get me out of here? I have to stop her,"

"

Charming

," Brooklyn called, giving the prince a weird look. "Who the

hell

are you talking to?"

James looked up from his conversation with Jiminy and faced the archer. "Legend!"

Jiminy also looked up and flew over to the brunette. "So you're the infamous Legend?"

Brooklyn narrowed her eyes at the cricket and said, "A talking cricket? Wow, I must be going crazy,"

"It's Jiminy, Ms. Legend," The cricket said as the archer walked over to James's binds and unsheathed her sword to cut them off.

"It's just Legend, cricket. No Miss," Brooklyn told him before asking the prince, "What's your plan now, Prince Charming?"

"I don't know. I tried everything to make her remember who I am, but nothing worked," James told her, removing the ropes from his wrists.

Jiminy stepped in, saying, "It sounds like you're approaching this the wrong way. How can she remember who you are when she's lost sight of who she is?"
Brooklyn ran up the stairs to Archie's office to pick Henry up to his session. She was about to knock but paused when she heard the two still in conversation."It sounds like you're approaching this the wrong way," She heard Archie say. "How can she remember her old memories when she's lost sight of who she is?"The teenager felt like she had heard Archie say that line before, but didn't remember when. She shrugged it off, thinking maybe he had said it before in one of Henry's sessions and was merely repeating it for the boy again.Brooklyn waited outside until the session finished and Henry came out of the door."Hey, Brooke!" He grinned. "Have you been waiting outside the whole time?"The brunette shook her head, saying, "Nah, just long enough,"The two walked down the stairs and headed out of the building when Henry suddenly asked her, "Do you want to sleepover at my house tonight?"Brooklyn stopped and looked down at him, hands in her pocket. "I-I don't know, Henry...,"She didn't want to wake up from another dream in his house and scare him."Please, Brooke?" Henry pleaded. "I just figured that since Ms. Blanchard and Emma are still busy...," He trailed off, not really wanting to talk about it.The teenager sighed, biting her lip as she thought about it. Maybe she just needed a breath of fresh air with Henry to stop the dreams for a night."Let's ask your mom first, then we'll see what she says,""YES!" Henry said, pumping his fist and making Brooklyn laugh.She didn't know it, but he planned on helping her with her dreams.
"What's your plan again?" Brooklyn asked James beside her, eyeing Snow who was preparing herself then back to the queen and her entourage on the road.

The prince simply shrugged and answered, "Improvise. I told you that about three times already,"

Brooklyn laughed and said, "I'm aware. I'm just reminding you that you are going to get yourself killed one day,"

James sighed at the archer as he left her to sneak in on Snow. Brooklyn watched, narrowing her eyes as she noticed James was coming from in front of Snow, not behind her.
"James, what are you—," Brooklyn's thoughts were cut off as the prince jumped in the way of the arrow, hitting his shoulder. The brunette hit her forehead with the palm of her hand.
"What do you think you're doing?" Brooklyn heard Snow ask as the bandit ran over to James. "Why would you do this?"

The archer silently agreed with the ex-princess as she sighed at the prince. Suddenly, she heard horses and she ran out of her hiding spot to warn the couple, who were kissing away.

Brooklyn's eyes widened and said, "Woah, I'll—,"

"Brooklyn!" Snow immediately turned around and tackled the archer in a hug, causing Brooklyn to stiffen at the interaction.

"Great to know you're no longer arrogant," Brooklyn managed to let out while being squeezed by Snow, pulling away. "We have to leave now. King George's army's here,"

James looked at the direction Brooklyn was and pulled Snow's hood over her head, trying to lead her away.

Brooklyn reached for her sword as the men got down from their horses, but James said, "BROOKLYN, YOU GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE! They're going to catch you,"

Snow managed to pull Brooklyn away and push her out of the way before a guard grabbed Snow and another two went for James.

Brooklyn tumbled down the hill a few feet away and two other guards ran after her.

"The Legend," One of the guards smirked. "King George is after your head, and we get to give it to him along with his son,"

Brooklyn stood up after a series of swearing and took her sword out, cracking her neck in the process. "I think he'll be much happier if I get rid of two big-headed bastards for him,"

Successfully angering the guard, the archer quickly deflected both blows from their swords. She spun her own blade expertly, making the guards step back. She took this opportunity to pull a knife out of her belt and throw it at one guard, striking his stomach and killing him.

The second guard stared at his partner as he dropped dead before looking back at the brunette wide-eyed. He gulped as she smirked evilly at him, saying, "You wanna join your friend on the other side?"

The man said nothing and ran back to the rest of the army, stumbling slightly. Brooklyn grinned and took the sword from the dead guard, saying, "Thanks for the extra sword, mate,"

She headed back up the incline of the hill in time to see a guard pull out his sword, ready to hurt Snow.

"HEY!" Brooklyn called for the attention of the guard, who met her eyes with sudden fear in them.

His mouth was slightly ajar as he saw the archer holding two swords and muttered, "The Legend,"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" The head knight called from behind. "We got what we need," The knight knew better than to waste manpower on capturing the feared archer. They'd end up losing both Prince James and half the army by trying to do so.

Snow got up and stood by Brooklyn, leaning against the tree, as she yelled, "JAMES!"

"SNOW!" The prince yelled back.

"I will find you. I will always find you,"
"Just make yourself comfortable," Regina told Brooklyn with a smile. "The guest room is ready for you, but you can stay here with Henry,""Thanks, Regina," Brooklyn said.Once the woman left the room and closed the door, Brooklyn turned to Henry, saying, "So..., what do you have planned for the night?"The boy grinned and took his book out of his backpack. "Bedtime stories!" He exclaimed and plopped down on his bed. "It's going to help you remember who you are,"Brooklyn chuckled, sitting down beside him. "That I'm The Legend and I'm the most feared archer in all the realms?""Yup!" Henry said. "Once you remember who you are, then your memories will start coming back to you,"Brooklyn kept her mind open for him for two reasons- one was she didn't want to hurt him and two was because she had a really strong feeling that they were the reasons for her frequent dreams."Okay then," She told her. "Which story would you like to read tonight?"
Brooklyn watched from the door frame as Snow apologized to the dwarves. They all embraced her as Happy said, "You can have your old room if you like,"

The archer chuckled at that, reminding the dwarves of her presence and Grumpy pulled her into the group hug.

"I'm not into hugs. Thank you," She told him and everyone laughed, pulling out of the hug.

"Thank you," Snow said to Happy. "But I can't stay,"

Everyone in the room was confused except for the two females as Grumpy asked, "Where are you going?"

"King George took James," Snow explained. "I have to get him back,"

"No, Snow," Grumpy told her. "You can't do it,"

Snow narrowed her eyes at him, saying, "I can't let the King just kill him. He came back for me. It doesn't matter what happens to me now. I have to try,"

"That's not what he meant, Snow," Brooklyn told her, making eye contact with Grumpy, who nodded

Snow looked confused until Grumpy added, "What I meant was, you can't do it alone, but luckily, you won't have to,"

Snow smiled at him as Brooklyn smirked proudly. The dwarves took their pickaxes and Grumpy said, "Let's show that king what Snow White, Brooklyn Jones, and the Seven Dwarves can

really

do!"
Once Henry and Brooklyn finished reading one of Brooklyn Jones's adventures with Peter Pan—because those stories were the "not-bloody ones", as Henry called them—Brooklyn hopped off the bed and said, "Okay, kiddo, time for bed,"Henry didn't move an inch and simply stared at the book. Brooklyn looked at the boy worriedly and asked, "Henry, what is it?""I just had a thought while we were reading," He told her. "What if, after Emma breaks the curse, you decide that you want to go back to Neverland with Peter Pan? I'm going to miss you a lot,"The teenager sighed, sitting back down beside him. "You don't have to worry about that, because I'm never ever leaving your side,"Henry looked up at her. "Really?""Of course," She told him. "You're my baby brother,"Henry frowned in disagreement, saying, "I'm not a baby anymore,""Fine, little brother," Brooklyn corrected.This made Henry smile and said, "I love you, big sister,""Love you too, kiddo," Brooklyn smiled. It soon turned into a smirk as she added, "Besides, I feel like you're more worried about losing such an awesome sword-wielding bodyguard with the bow,"Henry's eyes lit up as an idea popped in his head. "Promise you'll teach me when the curse breaks?"The teenager chuckled, "Sure thing,"Unbeknownst to the two, a shadow was watching them through Henry's bedroom window the whole time.
After Rumplestiltskin finished the true love potion made from Snow White and Prince Charming's hair, he walked over to another vial with a strand of hair inside.

He plucked the strand out of the vial and dropped it into a mixture he worked on before the love potion. He watched as the potion glowed and he poured it onto a dream catcher. He proceeded to watch the series of events flashing on the net, and the Dark One was shocked by what he discovered through Brooklyn's memories.

Rumple quickly headed to a shelf and took a box, opening it to reveal sentiments from his childhood. He took one of the cloaks and looked through it with a magnifying glass. He smiled as he found what he needed and carefully picked it up with a pair of tweezers. He dropped the piece of human hair into a third vial, which contained the second strand of Brooklyn's hair.

The strands glowed and formed a double helix, just like Snow and Charming's hair.

Rumple smirked to himself as he keeps the potion in an egg-shaped vessel, satisfied with his work.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"LOOKS LIKE I

finally caught you," Regina smirked at the archer who was held down by her guards. Her hood was down, and her face was in clear view for the queen.
The brunette pretended to weigh that statement in her head before she said, "Technically, I surrendered, so I wouldn't count it as catching me," The archer held out air quotes on catching. "So, tell me, Your Majesty: what did I do this time?""Your words won't work like it used to, Legend," Regina sneered, walking towards her as her name drawled out. "You know very well what you do in my kingdom, and who you're helping,"
"Yeah, I walk around your kingdom, talk to people in your kingdom, eat in your kingdom, breathe in your kingdom —,"

"Enough!" Regina bellowed. She inhaled deeply, knowing that getting angry was what Brooklyn wanted upon seeing the archer's smirk. "My magic may not work on you, but you're unarmed and I doubled my army this time. You haven't learned a thing since the first time we've met,"

"You're the one who doesn't

get it

," The archer smirked. "Why do you think I gave you my name? To hunt me down easily?"

Regina simply stared at her as she continued talking, "It's a wild goose chase, Your Majesty. I give you my name and you know what I look like, but no one else does. All they know is that I'm a hooded thief and I despise your guards because...," The archer paused and chuckled. "Is that really the best you've got?"

She ended by throwing her arms back so she elbowed the two knights, using the momentum to grab their swords strapped onto their waist. Before the knights could even regain their balance, Brooklyn stabbed them both through the chest and pulled out the now-bloodied swords.
Brooklyn's eyes shot open as her heart pounded in her chest and in her ears. The teenager had forced herself to wake up before her reaction to the dream got any worse.She attempted to roll over to her side, but the slight shift in position sent her to the ground with a loud thud."Oh, f—," She stopped herself, remembering where she fell asleep and resulted in a groan while rubbing her butt.Henry woke up to the sound of the thud and looked around his room groggily."Sorry to wake you, kiddo," Brooklyn told him, making him face her as she stood up. "Fell down the bed,""Bad dream?" Henry asked her.The brunette shrugged, replying, "Kind of,"Henry was suddenly wide awake and asked, "What was it about?""It's not that bad—it just felt real," Brooklyn said, trying to calm his excited reaction. "Don't worry about it,"Henry smiled to himself, thinking that she had another of her Jones memories as her dream when the door suddenly swung open."What was that sound?" Regina asked them, peeking inside.Brooklyn hesitated before answering, thinking about the woman that looked just like Regina in her dream. "Sorry, that was me. I fell off the bed,"Regina sighed in relief and nodded at the answer, saying, "Well, Henry's gotta get to school, so breakfast's ready downstairs,"The two thanked her before she left the room."So...," Henry said. "Since the dream wasn't bad, do you want to talk about it?"The boy knew she was avoiding the question as she simply responded with, "Come on, let's go down for breakfast,"
Peter gently tucked some of Brooklyn's hair behind her ear as he watched her sleep peacefully in their treehouse. It had been days since she was attacked by the Shadow, and it's been haunting him since.

He was hesitant to leave her alone for the night, but he knew he had to. He had to get to Skull Rock and fix his business with the Shadow before matters got any worse.

Peter left a soft kiss on Brooklyn's forehead before leaving, flying over to Skull Rock. He sat down beside the huge hourglass and waited patiently.

"The Protection Spell was a lovely touch,"

Peter glared at the Shadow as he stood up and said, "It's there to keep her safe from threats like you,"

"You mean threats like 
you
?" The Shadow corrected. "We are the same person—,"

He was cut off by Peter objecting, "No! We are 
not
 the same person — not yet,"

"But we will soon," The Shadow said. "If you really wish to gain the immortality, you must allow me to be a part of you and find the heart of the truest believer,"

"I am looking for it!" Peter told him, but the Shadow added, "Without any distractions,"

The green-eyed boy was confused and the Shadow elaborated, "The girl... She's stopping you from doing what you need to do,"

Peter's look hardened and he clenched his fist, suddenly protective of Brooklyn. "Don't bring her into this,"

"You did when you brought her here," The Shadow growled. "And you told her everything about this island. She has to leave—,"

"

She is not leaving,

" Peter snapped.

"Then I'll have to deal with her myself," The Shadow growled. "And this time, I'll make sure your Protection Spell isn't there to stop me,"

Peter's eyes darkened as he said through gritted teeth, "Over my dead body,"
Henry patiently waited in the sheriff's station, reading another one of The Legend's stories, when Emma and Brooklyn came in, along with Mr. Gold."Henry, what are you doing here?" Emma asked.He looked up from his storybook, telling her, "I came to congratulate you,""For what?" Emma asked, looking at Brooklyn, who shrugged in response."Your genius plan," Henry said.Mr. Gold steps forward and asked, "And what plan is that, Henry?"Henry didn't say a word upon seeing Mr. Gold confused, and the man took the cue, saying, "Right,"He proceeded inside the Sheriff's office and Henry then whispered to Emma, "Sorry. I thought Mr. Gold was in on it, now that he's Miss Blanchard's lawyer,""In on what?" Brooklyn asked Henry. She agreed to meet him in the sheriff's station that night after his session with Archie, despite not knowing why."The escape plan," He answered her, and Brooklyn's eyes widened as she shares a worried look with Emma.Just then, Gold said, "Sheriff, could you join me, please?"The three of them headed inside to see Mary-Margaret's cell empty as Gold stated, "She's gone,""Henry, what did you do?" Emma asked, walking towards the open door.Henry raised his hands up in surrender and said, "Nothing. She was gone when I got here,""Her arrangement's tomorrow," Gold said. "If she's not there —,"Emma cut him off, saying, "She's a fugitive- doesn't matter if she's convicted for Kathryn or not — she's screwed," She turned around, heading out, and said, "I have to go find her before someone notices she's missing,""You mean Regina?" Brooklyn clarified and Emma gave her a look."The arrangement's at 8 AM," Emma said. "I'm sure she'll be here bright and early to celebrate her victory,""Well, you have until 8 AM then," Gold told her."What about me?" Henry asked, who was in front of Brooklyn as she held his shoulders. "How can I help?""Go home," Emma ordered.Henry walked up to her and whispered, "Emma, if she leaves Storybrooke...,""Not now, Henry," She told him, escorting him out of the office. "Come on, get home with Brooklyn,"The boy obediently told hold of his friend — who he considered his sister — and left the station with her.
Brooklyn sighed in content as she leaned her head onto Peter's shoulder. The two were sitting by the shore, watching the waves softly hit the sand while the sunset painted a beautiful orange across the sky. Brooklyn had loved it there since she first came to Neverland, so she and Peter often spent their time together there.

Peter looked down at her and smiled as he watched her calmly looking over the ocean. He wrapped an arm around her and said, "I love you so much, you know that?"

Brooklyn looked up at him and nodded her head. "Mhm..."

Peter leaned down and kissed her, taking her by surprise. He wrapped his arms around her waist and Brooklyn kissed him back, her hands making their way to his neck. She smiled into the kiss as Peter deepened it, before pulling back and looking into his eyes.

"What is it?" She asked him softly.

Peter smiled and said, "What do you mean, love?"

Brooklyn blushed at the nickname and Peter's smile widened, before she told him, "Your heart. It's racing,"

"I can't keep anything from you, can I?" Peter said with a raised brow.

Brooklyn shook her head and kissed him softly. "Nope,"

Peter sighed and said, "You deserve to know, anyways, love,"

Worry immediately flashed in Brooklyn's eyes as she said, "W-what—,"

Peter answered her before she could finish, saying, "It's the Shadow... He wants me to find the heart of the truest believer faster, and he's willing to do whatever it takes...,"

"What do you mean?" Brooklyn asked, confused. "You still have time...,"

Peter looked away for a moment, not knowing how to tell her, and this scared Brooklyn. She and Peter talked about a lot of things, but she knew how sensitive the topic of the Shadow and everything in Skull Rock was to him. It was a constant battle for Peter and though he tries to hide it, she knew it frightened him

"Peter...," Brooklyn whispered gently, taking a hold of his hand.

The said boy faced her again and quietly admitted, "He wants you gone,"

Brooklyn didn't know what to say, suddenly scared, as she felt her stomach drop. She shook her head, muttering, "Y-you don't mean...,"

Peter immediately said, "No, no, no, I promise..., okay?" He pulled her into a tight hug, burying his face in her hair.

He pulled back slightly, enough to meet her eyes as he told her, "You're not leaving me,"

Brooklyn took in a shaky breath, but nodded and whispered, "I love you,"

Peter's eyes softened and he replied, "I love you more,"
"Where have you been?" Regina asked the two as she opened the door to her house. It was a little past Henry's curfew with Brooklyn, and she hated tardiness."This is on me," Brooklyn quickly answered. "I had to take care of a few things in Granny's,"The teenager didn't like lying in front of Henry, as she felt like a bad influence when she does, but she didn't want to face Regina's wrath so late at night- and neither did Henry."Oh, that's alright," Regina smiled, buying it immediately. "Henry, you still have school tomorrow...,""Can Brooke stay for one more night, mom?" Henry brought up, making the teenager's brows shoot up at the request. "Please?""If you want to, you're more than welcome," Regina told the brunette.Regina wasn't The Legend's biggest fan (although she competed with King George on who had the bigger reward for her head), but she took care of the teenager during the curse when she saw how much her son adored and looked up to her.Brooklyn didn't know what to say, so she simply sighed, smiling as she replied, "I'll help Henry settle in,"Regina smiled at the two, opening the door wider. "Then come on in,"Henry excitedly ran up to his room with Brooklyn following him. The teenager shut the door behind them before looking at Henry sadly. "Sorry, Henry, but I have to pass this one night,"Henry's giddy expression fell. "But you told my mom...,""I just thought you wouldn't want her to hear about Operation Cobra," Brooklyn explained.Henry nodded, a bit consolidated that she was still in on the mission and said, "I'm still curious about your dreams. You're starting to act like Brooklyn Jones, so maybe these dreams are your memories,"The teenager gave him a small smile, sitting beside Henry on his bed. "And I would love to figure that out with you, but for now, I've got to do this myself,"She didn't want to tell him, but she was scared that the next dream would make her do more than fall off the bed. She didn't want to scare Henry like that.Henry sighed, "Okay. I believe in you, Brooke,"Peter sat quietly on the hammock in his treehouse, gently swaying it as he looked out the window. He was lost in his own thoughts, fiddling with something in his hands, when the Shadow appeared in front of him, making him jump."That wasn't necessary," Peter snapped, glaring at the Shadow."I did what you asked," The Shadow growled. "I found her. She was caught in the Evil Queen's Dark Curse and was swept to another realm along with the rest of her kingdom,"Peter furrowed his eyebrows as the Shadow continued, "Which means she doesn't remember you..., or anything from her past life,"That was the half-truth. The Shadow knew Brooklyn didn't remember her past life, but he refused to mention to Peter the part where she was dreaming of it.Peter shook his head, refusing to believe that his love had forgotten about him. "There has to be a way to break it,""They're in the process of doing so. The prophesied Savior is there, and she's destined to break the curse," The Shadow reassures him. "Now, I've done what you asked. Focus on your process—,"Peter snapped again. "I AM!""Those answers have been empty since the girl came along," The Shadow sneered."You said I'm getting her back when I find the heart," Peter sneered, before bursting when he said, "SHE'S BEEN GONE FOR OVER THREE DECADES, AND YOU STILL THINK I HAVEN'T DONE ENOUGH? I've got the boys to find recruits in different realms to find the owner of this heart, and believe me when I tell you: I am getting her back,"Back in Storybrooke, Brooklyn slammed the door shut to her apartment. She still couldn't shake off the emotions the dreams were giving her, and the last one she had in Henry's room was by far the most realistic.Glancing at her kitchen, the teenager spotted the bin full of empty whiskey bottles she and Ruby had fought over and she licked her lips, heading to where she kept her last bottle. Brooklyn savored the sensation of the alcohol burning her throat, but it still didn't numb the weight of the dreams like it used to. She leaned against the counter and brought her dog tag up to her eye level, observing every detail.Particularly, the last line. THE LEGEND.
"Have you stolen or hunted anything before?"
Henry's question came back to her, and the teenager furrowed her eyebrows, remembering something. She headed to her closet, digging all the way to the back, to find her bow and a set of arrows along with a worn-out sack full of her old hunting equipment.They were stuff she used in her past with her Dad, but somewhere inside her was the consideration of everything Henry has been telling her.Brooklyn stared at it for a moment before shaking her head, telling herself, "No, snap out of it, Brooke. You can't be this Brooklyn Jones. You hunted with Dad, but stopped when he died,"She proceeded to shut the closet and take another swig from the bottle as another thought replaced her first.
What if Henry's right? What if she had just forgotten all the other things and her dreams were her memories fighting their way back up?
Brooklyn simply shook her head to herself disbelievingly, setting the bottle down while saying, "No, Brooke. You know what? It's the alcohol. You just need some rest and hopefully, you'll be blessed with no dreams,"The teenager headed to her bed and it didn't take long at all for her to fall asleep.The first thing Brooklyn heard when she woke up was definitely not her alarm clock, and the teenager shot up in fear. Her first instinct after weeks of dreaming was to think that she was in another nightmare, but she sighed in relief as she realized that she was on a shore overlooking waves overlapping each other at the edge.Brooklyn laughed to herself and stood up. The dream was too good to be true, but that didn't stop her from running to the water and dipping her bare feet in it. For once, she was in control of herself and not watching her alter ego.She allowed herself to admire the ocean reflect the sunset and lose herself in watching the ocean when she suddenly heard, "Brooklyn?"The said teenager turned around to see a boy around her age with a stunned look on his face. Her face paled when she recognized him from some of her dreams."Wh-who are you?" She stuttered.Peter slowly approached her, still in shock that Brooklyn was right there in front of him, asking, "You don't remember me?"Brooklyn shook her head and said, "I've never met you,"A sudden fear washed over her, thinking that this was going to end a nightmare.Peter, on the other hand, felt his heart drop in his stomach and he froze, realizing that this wasn't his Brooklyn standing in front of him. If she were really his Brooklyn, she would've tackled him to the ground the second she saw him."But I know you," Peter told her, slowly walking towards her. "I can help you remember?""Then who are you?" Brooklyn asked, skeptical of the all-too-familiar boy in front of her."Peter," He answered. "Peter Pan,"A sound of disbelief escaped Brooklyn's mouth as she ran her hand through her hair, saying, "Oh my god, then what? Next thing you're going to tell me is that we're in Neverland and we have to run before Captain Hook takes us in his Jolly Roger?"Peter's face lit up as a wave of relief hits him, replying, "Yes, we're in Neverland, but Hook isn't here anymore,""Oh my god, you can't be serious," Brooklyn muttered. "I'm going insane. It's probably the alcohol. I should've listened to Ruby,"Peter scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion, disheartened as he realized that she was sarcastic. He wasn't able to jog her memory."What?" He asked.Brooklyn simply shook her head and said, "Nothing. This is all a dream," She gestured to everything around her and kept her eyes trained on the horizon. "It's my brain reminding me of all the fairy tales my little brother tells me about. I'll just wake up tomorrow in my apartment, buy some more drinks, and take all the pain away with it,"Worry flashed in Peter's eyes at the mention of the pain, reminding him of all the times he was there whenever she had her nightmares. It reminded him that he couldn't be there for her now that she was experiencing it again.Peter was heartbroken. His love was standing right there in front of him, but she wasn't the same person. She didn't even know him.He took a deep breath, thinking of another way to get her to remember, before realizing that maybe he didn't have to. Maybe all he can do was to cherish the moments that he was able to see her again.Peter stepped into the water, wading in it to be beside her and gently took her hand to get her to face him."I was supposed to give this to you, but you were taken away before I could," He told her, causing Brooklyn to look down at their hands. Peter gently placed something in her left hand and closed her fist before she could take a peek at it.Brooklyn then looked back up at him and she couldn't help but look into his eyes. They were soft and she could see the pain laced in them, but before she could say anything, Peter closed the distance between them and kissed her.Brooklyn was too shocked to respond, but at the same time, the kiss felt... familiar, somehow. The brunette let herself relax and she closed her eyes, kissing him back. Her right hand made its way to his chest as past memories of kissing Peter suddenly rushed back to her.When she opened her eyes, Brooklyn found herself back on her bed. No longer on the shore, nor with the boy. The teenager sat up and paused for a few moments, thinking about the dream, about the boy, and about the kiss. She suddenly remembered the boy placing something in her hand and out of pure curiosity, she opened her left hand.And on it was a silver necklace with her name scripted at the center.Brooklyn's eyes widened and she muttered, "That's impossible,"