Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Trouble? No way. You’re only in trouble if you get caught.”
- Aladdin

Tamara Colins drives along what seems like an endless deserted highway through a dark stretch of the woods. She is not afraid of driving alone at night as most girls her age would. Even women older than her would be weary. However, for the past year she has been living on her own in the tough city of Los Angeles. Ever since her parents died of nearly back to back overdoses. Occasionally hopping from couch to couch owned by one family member or the next. Each one worse than the last. Until eventually the dirty streets of Los Angeles actually treated her better than her own family.

She learned a long time ago that life is not a fairy tale. If she wants her life to be better, she can only rely on herself. Which is why she put in the extra effort to continue her high school education and graduated as soon as she could. A year earlier than expected. But she knew if she wanted to get a degree, maintaining a life without a home would become even more difficult. And babysitting could only allow for so much. Plus not many people are comfortable leaving their kids with a stranger when that stranger couldn’t provide a permanent address.

Her phone, the one luxury that she owns which is practically a necessity in this day and age, chimes alerting her that it’s now midnight and officially her birthday. Starting her seventeenth year off without cake or presents to look forward to isn’t that different than the way most of her sixteenth year has been. Even if she had candle to blowout to make a wish, she doubts it will do any good. She makes her own dreams come true. That’s why she is traveling up the coast searching for a new city with a lower cost of living. Some new place for her to start fresh. Without all the troubles of her short past following her like a dark shadow.

Unfortunately for her that shadow apparently casts a long range as the car she stole before leaving LA has finally reached its limit. The smoke rises from the hood as she hears the tale tell sputter of a dying engine. She pulls off to the side of the road just in time as the car jerks to an inevitable stop. Getting out, she doesn’t even bother popping the hood to check. Knows that the piece of junk isn’t worth the money it would cost to repair it. Not that she has that kind of money anyway.

She’s stuck along a stretch of road with no other cars in sight. She can’t even remember the last time she saw someone else driving on the highway with her. Her only luck is that the car stopped in front of a sign declaring she is now entering the next town. Her phone shows she has barely enough bars to work Google Maps. But she can’t even locate Storybrooke, California anywhere on the app.

Still, it’s the only shot she has at finding civilization. And hopefully a new car to steal. If some town so small that it can’t even be found on a map, surrounded by a seemingly never ending forest, could even be considered civil.

Grabbing her backpack and duffel bag, both full of the few meager possession she owns, she sets out on foot. As she crosses the town line, she curses her luck and prays she can at least find a decent meal. Oh, and a car to make her new temporary home.

She’s grateful that walking around Los Angeles has at least trained her for having good stamina. That and a desperate need to survive. Eventually she walks out of the woods and enters the populated area of the small town. The further she goes, the more she realizes it is not as much of a ghost town as she expected. More shops and homes than she would have imagined. Though it definitely looks like a throwback to one of those quaint town settings from old television shows and movies. Complete with an actual town square with a working fountain in the middle. If it weren’t for the updated traffic lights and signals, she would swear she stepped back into the 1950s.

The downside though is that the entire town seems to be dead quiet. Every shop is closed. Not a single person on the street. What kind of lame ass town is this? She knows it is past midnight, but has no one at least heard of a twenty-four hour diner?

A few streets up ahead, she does indeed locate a restaurant, but it is also closed. She tugs at the door in hopeless desperation. Her stomach grumbles in disappointment. The last food she ate was over five hours ago. And that was what could have charitably been called a snack when she stopped for gas.

Weighing her options and the likelihood of getting caught, Tamara decides to break in. However, even though she doesn’t see anyone else around, she is still smart enough not to try so brazenly out in open. Sneaking around the building to look for a back door or an open window. The back door is locked, but there is a window nearby. Dropping her duffel on the ground, she moves a crate beneath the window to give her a boost. Sadly, the window is also locked. Aren’t people in small towns supposed to be more naive and trusting?

Jumping down, she searches the ground for something to break or jimmy the lock. Quickly finding a rock, she double checks to make sure no one else is around before hurling the object through the window. She winces at the loud crash it makes, but the town must be truly dead as she hears nothing else but a dog barking in the distance.

Securing her backpack to her body for collecting her loot, she steps back on the crate, smashes any leftover glass and then carefully climbs through the window. Once inside, she steps down on a table that had been positioned beneath her. Perhaps luck is on her side tonight. Squinting her eyes to adjust to the darkness, she realizes the room she broke into is the restaurant’s kitchen.

She hurries over to a refrigerator. Among the various ingredients, are soda and water bottles and ready made sandwiches. Opening her pack, she fills it with as much food and drinks as she can. Adding a few fruits that she sees sitting in a crate on another table. Feels like it’s been forever since she has eaten an apple.

Tempting fate, she chooses to look around the building more. Through a swinging door is the main dining area. Now that she can see it even better than through the front door, it is exactly what she pictured for a small town diner. Booths lining the opposite wall, tables and chairs in the middle, and a counter with stools. Even a jukebox off in the corner near another hallway she suspects leads to the bathrooms.

Currently, she stands behind the counter where the servers would work. A set up for fountain drinks and glasses behind her. A small sink beneath the counter for employees to do a quick wash of their hands or drinking glasses. The main dishwasher probably back in the kitchen. There is a glass cabinet holding cakes and pies. She grabs some of the individually wrapped slices because she deserves a treat or three. Being that it is her birthday after all.

Turning around, she spies a vintage cash register. She didn’t think anyone actually used these things anymore. She knows she is pushing her luck, and breaking into it might take more effort than it’s worth, but she is so low on cash. She’ll need more if she has any hope of making it to wherever she plans on going. The business will probably be fine losing out on a few dollars. Definitely better than she will be without the money.

Choice made, she quickly searches for something to pop the lock. Finding a screwdriver and a hammer in a closet just off from the kitchen, she rushes back to the cash register. Positioning the flat head of the screwdriver into the lock, she swings the hammer as hard as she can. The register must be so old that it’s very fragile because the tray opens with ease. Grabbing all the cash and stuffing it into her pockets, she races back into the kitchen.

A quick check of the back door shows it locks from both the inside and the outside with a key. Without one, she can’t open it. Hopping up on the table, she sneaks back out the broken window. Carefully climbing down onto the crate below. Once she is cleared, she grabs her duffel and makes a run for it. Making sure there is as much distance as possible between herself and the restaurant before she slows down. Just in case someone does decide to investigate any noise.

Veering from the main part of downtown, she walks toward the more residential areas. Hoping to find a car she can easily steal by hot wiring the ignition. She’ll need an older model. The older the better. Bonus if it is left unlocked.

Up ahead, she catches sight of a bright orange vintage car. Probably not much better than the car she left at the edge of town, but perfect for her needs. She tests the handle and the door opens for her without a problem. Almost like the owner wanted to get their car stolen. Tossing her stuff into the passenger seat, she bends underneath the wheel to pull out the ignition wires. She has the car hot wired and the engine turning in less than a minute like a pro.

After putting the car into drive and pressing her foot on the gas, soon she is speeding away and out of sight. All and all this quick diversion of a trip proved to be very fruitful for her. She has food, money, and a new car. Well, new to her. Not bad work for less than an hour.

She is on the other side of town nearing a ‘Leaving Storybrooke’ sign when she realizes she made too quick of a judgment. The vehicle begins to sputter to a slowing stop, though thankfully not from engine troubles. Checking the gauge, she sees that it is out of gas. Pulling over in front of the sign, she accepts that there is nothing that can be done tonight. She’ll have to get up early tomorrow and head back into town for gas. Hopefully without anyone connecting her to any recent string of robberies.

This town may seem nice and trouble free, but she has learned the hard way to be better safe than sorry. She fiddles with the lock on the driver side door to make sure it locks without any problem. And then double checks the lock on the passenger side door to secure her safety inside.

She climbs into the backseat to settle in for the night. Situating her duffel as a make shift pillow. Pulling out her childhood teddy bear. Baloo has been with her since she was a kid, and the only thing to provide her any comfort in the past year. She sets him beside her as she searches through her pack. Taking out a couple of sandwiches and a bottle of water. She nearly scarfs down the first sandwich, she is so hungry. Taking more time with the second one, she counts the money she stole. The total amount comes out to a little over a couple hundred dollars. She won’t be living like a king anytime soon, but it’s more than enough to get her further along in her journey. Maybe even to some new city she can finally call home.

She wraps the money in one of the empty sandwich bags and tucks it deep into her backpack. Taking out one of the cake slices, she softly sings happy birthday to herself. When the only celebrating she will be doing this day is done, she wraps her hoodie around herself to keep warm. Hugging Baloo close to her chest as she spreads out as much as she can in the backseat. Bending her legs to get more comfortable. Shaking her head at the thought that this might actually be the best night’s sleep she will have gotten in a long while.

Though the chirping of crickets is definitely a different type of white noise to fall asleep to rather than the late night traffic sounds of Los Angeles. And because LA’s light pollution, this is her first chance to actually see the stars clearly in the night sky. She briefly considers wishing on one of them, but just as quickly forgets about it.

Wishing upon a star will never get her what she wants most in this world: a place to call home.

***

The hurried rapping on the window wakes Tamara from her slumber. Through bleary eyes, she recognizes the sun is already high in the sky. Suggesting that she has slept later than she intended. Turning to see who knocked on the window, two figures in tan uniforms stare down at her. A man and a woman. Both wearing matching frowns. Though the man with his arms crossed over his chest has a much more stern look about him. He’s a handsome, Caucasian man with dirty blonde hair and steely blue eyes. Almost a foot taller than his female counterpart. He looks like he would fit in with the Hollywood male model types back in LA. The term ‘Officer Zaddy’ comes to Tamara’s mind.

The woman looks about the same height as Tamara. She’s Asian-American with rich, dark brown hair and warm brown eyes. Eyes that, in spite of the distressed look on her face, appear much kinder than the man’s. She is also incomprehensibly gorgeous, and Tamara briefly wonders if she fell asleep on the backlot of a movie studio.

The two of them back up a little as Tamara moves to step out of the vehicle. She clocks the badges they wear and their name plates. The man is Bradford and the woman is Chen. She notices the sheriff’s department jeep parked a few feet behind the car. She’ll have to play this carefully if she has any hope of getting out of town without a problem.

However, Tamara seems to have underestimated Chen because the older woman immediately turns her around and places her in handcuffs. “You are under arrest for auto theft.”

“No. You don’t understand.” Tamara insists as she is turned back around. “I didn’t steal the car. The guy who owns it lent it to me, but he lost the keys.”

“I’m the guy who owns the car.” Chen angrily informs her.

Realizing she can’t lie her way out of this now, Tamara gives up and states the obvious instead. “You didn’t even lock it. What did you expect?”

“Yeah, well it doesn’t lock.”

Tamara shrugs. “It does now.”

“What? How did you fix it?” Chen asks intrigued.

“It was easy. Just popped off the door panel. Took like two minutes.” Did this woman honestly never even try to fix her car?

Looking at the car in disbelief, that’s when Chen notices Tamara’s stuff in the backseat. “Wait, are you living in here? How old are you?”

She almost answers ‘sixteen’ before remembering that today is her birthday. “Seventeen.” She answers. No use in denying it.

Bradford finally has something to add. “Where are your parents?”

That Tamara is a little more reluctant to admit, but she knows she has to. “Dead.” Though she doesn’t offer any additional information. It’s not any of their business; and if they really want to know, then they can check state records.

This news begins a shift in Chen’s behavior. She carefully moves Tamara to sit on the side of the road, but she does not remove the handcuffs. Formal introductions are made so that she now knows Bradford is Sheriff Tim Bradford and Chen is Deputy Lucy Chen. The sheriff starts searching through her belongings while Deputy Chen asks more probing questions about how long has she been homeless.

As Sheriff Bradford is searching the car, Baloo falls to the ground. “Careful with that,” Tamara implores him.

The sheriff picks up her bear and tosses it to Chen who tenderly sets the stuffed animal on the ground next to her with an apology. “Sorry. Must be hard living like this.”

Annoyed whenever someone tries to show her any false sense of sympathy, Tamara bitterly asks “What do you care?” They exchange silent looks for a moment, and for once the teenager thinks this woman might truthfully feel sorry for her. That her words aren’t just an empty gesture.

Looking back over at the sheriff, Chen tells him, “I’m not going to press charges.” She tells Tamara to stand up, clearly intent on releasing her from the handcuffs, but the sheriff stops her.

“It’s too late for that, Chen.” He pulls out the leftover sandwiches and the bag with the money. “I think we just found who broke into Nyla’s last night.”

The sandwiches’ plastic wrapping that she paid little attention to last night has seals with clearly printed ‘Nyla’s Place’ written in green and yellow lettering.

Tamara doubts that she’ll be allowed to leave town anytime soon.

***

Deputy Chen finally does take the handcuffs off of Tamara, but only after she places her in the sheriff’s office’s tiny jail cell.

Facing the repercussions of her actions for the first time in her life, the teenager begins to worry. “What’s going to happen to me?”

Lucy takes a deep breath as she reluctantly shuts the cell and locks the door. “You’ll go before the judge tomorrow to plead your case. Your lawyer will stop by this afternoon to talk you through everything.”

“I can’t afford a lawyer.” Tamara admits obviously.

“Don’t worry,” Lucy assures her with a caring smile. “My friend’s a lawyer, and he’ll be happy to take your case pro bono as a favor to me. I’ll talk to him, and he should be able to see you by this afternoon. Everything will be okay, Tamara.” She reassures her.

Lucy leaves for a moment, but returns quickly with Baloo. “I’ve locked all your belongings in storage, but I’ll allow you to keep this.” She passes the bear through the bars. Turning around to address the sheriff. “Before you ask, Tim, yes I checked to make sure she wasn’t hiding a lock pick in it,” she adds sarcastically.

Sheriff Bradford smiles tightly. “I’d be more worried about a shiv.” Tamara can’t tell if he is being serious or not, but Lucy just rolls her eyes as if she expected this type of response.

“I’m going to speak to Wesley about taking on Tamara’s case, okay?” Lucy informs Tim, and despite being his subordinate it seems a lot more like she is telling him what she intends to do and less like asking for his permission.

The sheriff waves her away with an uninterested flick of his hand as he sits behind his desk. Lucy leaves without another word, and now Tamara is left alone with the sheriff. Bored and with little else to do, she takes in her surroundings.

The entire sheriff’s office is very small. The reception/booking area where they brought her is perhaps one of only a few rooms in the building. She noticed a storage/lounge area with a refrigerator and coffee machine off to the side. Lucy had taken her to the bathroom before she placed her in the cell. Speaking of the cell, it reminds her of those small town jails she saw once in an old television show. With open bars. Two beds placed on opposite sides of each other. Her cell is one of only two in the whole building. She doesn’t know what the town would do if more than four people needed to be arrested at once.

And the cells are not the only parts of this room. They face the two desks in the middle of the room. One desk which Sheriff Bradford is currently occupying. The other she assumes is for Lucy. Tamara is kind of surprised he doesn’t have his own office separate from where they keep the prisoners or from where his deputy works. Probably because he doesn’t trust the people he arrests. Or maybe he doesn’t trust his deputy.

Though Tamara can’t imagine that to be true. Lucy has been incredibly kind and forgiving to her considering she stole her car and all. And she listened to Tim and Lucy banter back and forth as he drove them back to the station. Despite projecting annoyance with his colleague, Tamara suspects that he feels very differently than he lets on.

Doubting she will get any decent conversation out of Tim, Tamara lies back on the cot and stares at the ceiling. She closes her eyes to catch up on her sleep since she can’t do anything else.

What may be a couple of hours later, she wakes to the sound of whistling. Someone is trying to get her attention. Sitting up, she spies Tim standing in front of the door to the cell with a tray of food.

“You’re actually serving me lunch?” she asks.

“It’s a violation of your eighth amendments rights to let you starve.” He states plainly. “Besides I’d never hear the end of it from Chen if I did.”

She takes the tray from him and mutters her thanks. Which he accepts with nothing more than a nod of his head before returning to his own desk to eat his lunch.

Neither speaks as they quietly eat. Not really together even though they are in the same room. Yet Tamara grins when she notices the cookies left for her on the tray. She doubts access to treats are included in the eighth amendment. He has been a bit nicer since they checked her ID and discovered she only just turned seventeen today.

Not long after she has finished her lunch, Lucy returns to the station with a blonde haired gentleman in a nice suit. “Oh, I’m glad Nell brought you lunch. I was just going to ask her.”

“Wasn’t Nell,” Tamara says about the dispatcher/assistant she met earlier. “It was the sheriff.”

Lucy smiles brightly at this news. Then notices the cookie Tamara has been saving. “And he bought you cookies?” She turns to him and teases, “I knew you were a big softy, Tim.”

The sheriff says nothing in reply as he only glares. Unbothered by his reaction, Lucy turns her attention back to Tamara to introduce her to the other man. “This is Wesley Evers, and he has agreed to take your case. I promise you that you are in good hands. He is the best lawyer in town.”

At this, Tim scoffs. When both Lucy and Wesley turn their indignant gazes on him, he shrugs. “Don’t get me wrong, Evers. As far as lawyers go, you’re one of the decent ones. Certainly better than some other lawyers in this town I could name.”

Wesley smirks but otherwise doesn’t take issue with Tim’s assessment. However, Lucy frowns and Tamara has the distinct impression that she is missing something from the exchange.

“Anyways,” Wesley continues ignoring the interlude, “I’ll speak with the attorney handling the prosecution to get you a plea deal. I’m sure I can convince him on community service with no jail time for a first offense.” He turns to Lucy, “Is there somewhere I can speak to my client privately?”

Lucy unlocks the cell and leads them into the lounge area so Tamara and Wesley can speak about her case. When all is done, Tamara does feel better about her prospects than she did this morning.

At least she did until almost hour later when they are all meeting with the prosecution. Mr. Sanford is perhaps the exact opposite when it comes to the kind of attorney Mr. Evers is. Anytime he smiles charmingly, he doesn’t appear sincere. As if he trying to play some part. Not for Tamara, but for Lucy. Who is possibly the only person in the room other than Sanford himself who likes him. Wesley seems to tolerate him. Tim hasn’t bothered to hide the scowl on his face from the moment Chris Sanford stepped into the station.

“With the type of crimes Miss Colins has committed, she is looking at at least a couple of years in prison.” Sanford states unperturbed and without any sympathy.

Lucy and Wesley balk at this news, but it’s Tim’s reaction which surprises Tamara the most.

“Oh come on, Sanford!” Tim argues as he steps into Chris’ personal space. Towering over the smaller man. “The money she stole has already been returned to Nyla who is willing to be forgiving considering the kid’s circumstances. So at best all she really took was a small amount of food. It’s not exactly grand larceny.”

“She also broke a window and entered the establishment illegally!” Chris asserts himself as best he can. His eyes taking on an almost wild and unnerving appearance.

However, if the dark haired man’s intent is to intimidate his opponent, he only fails as Tim shakes his head in annoyance as he insultingly calls Chris a dope under his breath. Lucy steps in between the two. “Chris, please reconsider. Tamara doesn’t deserve that harsh a punishment; and you know when Judge Grey hears her case, he’ll say they same. You don’t want to waste his time, do you?” she pleads.

After a few minutes to think about it, Chris relents. “Okay. I’ll suggest community service and time served.” He offers like he is being the reasonable and magnanimous one in this situation.

“Thank you,” Lucy answers though Tamara thinks she is only saying so to be polite. Tim offers nothing more than a tense, sharp gaze at the man as his frown remains in place.

Chris leans over to kiss Lucy on the cheek. Though he might have been aiming for her lips had Lucy not quickly turned her head. Clearly uncomfortable with public displays of affection in front of others. “I’ll talk to you later tonight.” He promises before following Wesley out the door to make the final arrangements for the plea bargain.

If looks could kill, Chris Sanford would not have made it five paces before dropping dead after the penetrating glare Tim sent his way as soon as he kissed Lucy.

Unsure of herself, Lucy starts to say something, but Tim brusquely interrupts her. “Get back to work.”

Not much is spoken between the two for the next couple of hours. Lucy stays at the station to keep watch on Tamara while Tim does patrol. But he returns at dinner time with food for all of them. Tamara takes in the bit of irony that the takeout is from Nyla’s. Tim has his own sense of humor.

He speaks softly to Lucy, and though Tamara can’t hear what is being said, whatever it is must be some form of apology. Lucy smiles sweetly at him, and the gesture causes Tim’s entire posture to relax.

Together the three of them enjoy their meals while Lucy asks Tamara about her interests and about her past. Tim joins the conversation occasionally but is mostly content to sit in silence and let Lucy do most of the talking.

After they finish their meals, Lucy brings Tamara a pillow and a blanket for the night. When Tim sees that she has brought a second pillow and blanket for herself, he asks, “What do you think you are doing?”

“Staying the night with Tamara,” Lucy answers plainly like that should be obvious.

“This isn’t a slumber party. She is still our prisoner. You actually have to guard her,” Tim insists.

Lucy scoffs in disbelief. “You don’t trust me to do my job?”

“I trust you implicitly. I don’t trust her,” he points at Tamara, “not to give you some sob story that tugs at your heartstrings and has you handing over the keys.”

“You know what? Fine.” Lucy takes said keys and opens the cell. Stepping inside she throws down her pillow and blanket on the other bed. She then reaches her arm through the bars to lock the door from the inside before tossing the keys back to Tim. “You can let me out in the morning, and not have to worry about our prisoner escaping in the middle of the night.”

“And what are you going to do if there is a fire or an earthquake?” Tim asks smugly, thinking he has the upper hand.

Lucy shrugs as she challenges him on that unlikely scenario. “I guess I’ll have to trust that you can race back here quickly enough to let us out before the building crashes down on us.”

Tim doesn’t respond. Instead he leaves, and Tamara thinks he is admitting defeat and going home. But he quickly returns with his own pillow. “Just how many pillows does Smitty keep in this place?”

“Enough to build a fort,” Lucy answers as she sets up her bed. Not surprised at all that Tim is choosing to stay.

“Figures. He loves his naps.” Tim responds as he puts his feet up on the desk while situating his pillow between his head and his chair. “Don’t stay up too late gossiping. We have a trial to attend in the morning.”

Lucy shakes her head, but fondly tells him, “Goodnight, sir.”

Tim answers with a grunt and nothing more.

Lucy seems less interested in gossiping and more interested in telling ghost stories. “Have you ever heard the one about Gracey Manor? It’s a local legend about the mansion that rests on the highest hill at the edge of town.”

Tamara and Lucy spend the next couple of hours talking and playing with a deck of cards Lucy brought with her. When they finally do go to sleep, Tim’s eyes are still closed, but Tamara has the sneaking suspicion that he is only resting his eyes. That if any trouble were to happen in the middle of the night, he would awake alert and ready to perform his duties. She knows her own experiences have kept her mindful of never allowing herself to fall too deep into sleep, but she can only wonder why Sheriff Bradford would learn such behavior.

***

Tamara is nervous when her trial is about to start, but Lucy calmly reminds her, “Judge Grey is very fair. He will take into account your background and the fact that you have no priors. Follow Wesley’s advice, be honest and sincere in your remorse, and you’ll have nothing to worry about.”

Tim adds nothing else beyond wishing her luck, but he doesn’t sound sarcastic when he says it so Tamara takes that as a win. She sits with Wesley at the defendant’s table and listens as he gives her some last minute prep and more reassurances.

Everyone rises when Judge Grey enters the court room. Tamara can sense that he commands respect from all in attendance. He is solemn as he puts on his glasses to read over the court documents. She enters her guilty plea when asked, and the judge confirms with the counselors on the agreement for sentencing. Though Mr. Sanford seems reluctant when admitting that the prosecution is only asking for community service.

Judge Grey turns his eyes on her. “Miss Colins, do you have anything you would like to say on your behalf before I render my judgment.”

“I sincerely regret my actions and any trouble I caused, your honor. And if I might apologize to Ms. Harper, I would like to do so now.” Tamara asks. Upon the judge’s nod, she turns around to face the lady Lucy had pointed out earlier. “Ms. Harper, I am very sorry for breaking your window and stealing your money and food. I can’t erase what I have done, but I will try to behave better in the future.” Nyla accepts her apology with a simple nod, and Tamara releases a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding in.

“Is there anything else you would like to say?” The judge asks and when Tamara shakes her head back and forth, he continues, “Very well. I believe you are sincere in your remorse, Miss Colins. As such, I do think there is something you can do for Ms. Harper to pay for your actions. I’ve spoken to her myself before the trial, and she has agreed to allow you to work for her to pay off your debt for the broken window. Is this amendable to all parties present?”

Tamara quickly nods her head in agreement with Wesley and Mr. Sanford also answering in the affirmative.

“Good.” Judge Grey answers as though there is little doubt anyone would disagree. “In addition to you paying your debt to Ms. Harper, you will also repay your debt to society by completing one hundred hours of community service. Until that time has been served, you will remain in town. Do you understand?”

“Um… I don’t have anywhere to stay, your honor.” Tamara answers thinking that despite Lucy’s, Wesley’s, and even Tim’s best efforts; she will be remaining in jail for the time being anyway.

However, Lucy abruptly stands up. “She can stay with me, your honor. I have a spare bedroom for her.” Tamara turns to look at the older woman. Even though she has been nice to her, she never expected her to open her home to a complete stranger. Where Tim is sitting beside Lucy, he shakes his head muttering something about a puppy.

“Will that be a problem for you, Miss Colins?” the judge asks. Peering out at her over the rim of his glasses.

“No, your honor. I will be happy to stay with Deputy Chen.” Tamara answers swiftly. Afraid the offer might be taken back if she hesitates.

“Then it is settled. Deputy Chen, you are responsible for ensuring that Miss Colins completes her community service and repays her debt to Ms. Harper. You must also keep her from breaking the law again. I don’t want to see you in my courtroom again, Miss Colins. Is that understood?” He looks down at her from his bench. His voice and expression brokering no argument.

“Yes sir, your honor.” Tamara answers before adding. “Thank you.”

“Very well, then this case is closed, and you are dismissed. Court is adjourned.” He bangs his gavel and stands up. Everyone rises again as he returns back to his chambers.

Wesley shakes Tamara’s hand as all the tension leaves her body. She thanks him before he leaves to finalize the details with the court. Ms. Harper joins Lucy and Tim in offering their congratulations to a fair sentencing. The beautiful African-American woman looks her over acutely before saying, “I expect to see you at seven in the morning. Be prepared to work.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tamara answers respectfully. She has a feeling that Nyla Harper is not someone to be trifled with.

Ms. Harper eyes her sharply but as she turns, she shares a soft smile with Lucy. Tamara suspects Lucy might have had something to do with Nyla’s agreement to let her work off her debt and curry good will with the judge. However, the wink the woman throws Tim’s way has the teenager second guessing as to just whom might be responsible.

“Good luck,” Tim offers Tamara about working for Nyla, and this time she feels that he is being sarcastic. Especially when he smirks as he walks away.

“Ignore him. Nyla will treat you well.” Lucy offers as she wraps her arms around Tamara’s shoulder and guides her out of the courtroom. “I’m going to speak with Wesley about a time to set up your appointment with your community service officer, and then we can go to my place to get you settled into your new room.”

“Thanks, Lucy. I really appreciate all you’ve done for me.” Tamara states. She doesn’t know how else to express how grateful she is.

Lucy exudes a brilliant smile. “No problem. I got you, girl. You don’t have anything to worry about from now on.”

Tamara isn’t sure how true that statement is, but for the first time in a long while she hopes she can believe it.

As Tamara waits for Lucy, she notices a red haired woman arguing with Chris. Well, the woman is arguing. Practically yelling. Chris appears to be taking a verbal beating as his shoulders are hunched and his head is down in a submissive manner.

A few minutes later, Lucy returns. “Are you ready to go?” she asks.

“Yeah. Who is that woman talking to Chris?” Tamara gestures to where the two people are standing.

When Lucy’s eyes land on the target, her spine stiffens. Her voice rigid in a way that is so unlike her as she answers,“That’s Mayor Rosalind Dyer. She practically owns this town. As long as you are here, you should do your best to avoid her. Trust me.” She doesn’t offer anything more on the subject as she guides Tamara away from the woman.

Sensing the unnerving feeling of being watched, Tamara turns back around to see that Mayor Dyer’s shrewd eyes are following her. However, on closer inspection she realizes it’s not herself that Rosalind is staring daggers at but rather her new friend.

The villainous woman with the striking red hair stares at Lucy as though she wants to cut out her heart and eat it like a five-star meal.

Chapter Text

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.”
- Mulan

The room Lucy offers Tamara has the basic furnishings. Her previous roommate Jackson had moved in with his boyfriend and therefore had no need for another bed or dresser. For Tamara just the bed with four walls and a roof over her head is a blessing she hasn’t had in a long time. Lucy has taken the day off so they can get everything she needs in order to settle into her new home. Including clothes, shoes, toiletries, and decorative items for her bedroom. When Tamara tries to protest that Lucy is doing too much, her new roommate calls the items birthday presents and therefore they can’t be refused.

The teenager has no way to express her gratitude. Though she promises to pay Lucy back when she can, but the older woman wouldn’t hear of it. Insisting that Tamara is doing her the favor by moving in so Lucy doesn’t have to live alone anymore. And that if Lucy had ever been in a similar situation, she would hope someone would take her into their home and help her out. Something about the conversation leads Tamara to believe the circumstance isn’t so much of a hypothetical, but she doesn’t want to pry.

They also spend the rest of the day taking a tour of the town so Tamara is prepared to get around on her own when Lucy has to go back to work. She expects because of the small area it won’t be too difficult to travel on foot, but much to her surprise Lucy also gives her the car she stole from her. Claiming she has been meaning to get a new one anyway. Tamara isn’t sure how much of that is true, and she should feel guilty or at least not want Lucy’s pity, but nothing has gone her way for so long that she chooses to accept the gift instead.

Tamara also recognizes the trust Lucy is putting in her by giving her this car. She is basically offering the younger girl the freedom to drive off into the sunset without following through on her punishment. And Tamara can’t deny that the thought didn’t cross her mind, but she hasn’t had someone like Lucy in her life for a long time. Someone who believes in her. Whether it’s due to Lucy’s kind heart or perhaps naivete, Tamara doesn’t want to disappoint her.

Already she feels a kinship toward the woman that she can’t quite explain.

***

The next morning it takes some effort for Tamara to convince Lucy that she doesn’t need any hand holding in order to show up for work at Nyla’s. Even though Judge Grey had made the teenager Lucy’s responsibility while she remains in town, she is almost a legal adult and has survived on her own at an even younger age.

So with a few last second reassurances and suggesting that they would both be late for work if Lucy didn’t accept defeat, Tamara makes her way to Nyla’s Place on her own. Arriving five minutes early because she figures Nyla is the ‘if you’re on time, you’re late’ type. When she walks through the door of the restaurant and gets a slight yet impressed smile from the owner, she knows she made the right choice.

Nyla Harper is a no nonsense person who exudes confidence with every step she takes. If Tamara doesn’t want to disappoint Lucy for fear of breaking her heart, then she doesn’t want to disappoint Nyla for fear of the woman herself.

“Before I start training you, I want to know if you at least enjoyed the sandwiches you stole from me?” Nyla asks as her eyes narrow in on her new employee.

“Yes, ma’am.” Tamara answers honestly. “They were the best thing I’d eaten in a long while.” She means it too. Even without adding in the fact that she rarely got a decent meal.

“Hmm. I do enjoy compliments on my food.” Nyla admits. “You do well here, and I might just teach you how to make my famous beignets.” She offers with a smile that Tamara guesses might be a rare moment of pleasantry from the woman.

“Do you have waitress experience?” Nyla asks Tamara as she hands her an apron. When she receives a nod, she continues, “Good. That will be your job for now.”

Her new boss explains where to find everything she needs and what all her responsibilities will be. However the next question surprises Tamara. “Have you eaten yet?”

“Yes, ma’am. I had breakfast with Lucy.”

Nyla accepts this explanation, but also adds, “If you come early enough, you can eat breakfast here. You’ll also get lunch and dinner meals with your breaks if you’re scheduled to work. In addition to your wages.”

Now that does throw Tamara for a loop. “You’re going to pay me?”

“Of course,” Nyla answers as though she wouldn’t have considered any other alternative. “Before I bought this diner, I was waitress. I know how hard the work is, and I make sure all my employees are paid fairly. Though I will be garnishing your wages a little each paycheck to fix that window you broke.”

Tamara grins sheepishly. “Understood, ma’am. And again, I really am sorry about that.”

Nyla waves her off. “It’s in the past. From now on just show me how good an employee you are, and we’ll go from there.”

Tamara nods as she is sent off to prep for work. Soon the first customers of the day arrive giving her ample opportunity to prove herself. She quickly finds a rhythm that helps her. While the townspeople are curious about her being new in town, and some have even heard about her escapades, she tries to answer their questions politely. Though few bother to probe anymore after Nyla gives them a sharp look. She’s glad to have the woman in her corner.

At just before noon, a dark haired Latina woman rushes into the restaurant taking a seat at the counter. For such an obviously attractive woman, she looks extremely tired and frazzled.

Before Tamara has a chance to ask her for her order, Nyla places a plate in front of the new customer. “When I got your text, I went ahead and put in an order for your usual.”

“Thanks. I wasn’t sure if I’d even get a break to eat today.” The woman says right before she begins eating.

“You need to quit your job, Angela.” Nyla says without preamble.

“So you tell me every day.” Angela responds after she finishes chewing.

“Because it’s true every day.” Nyla doesn’t let Angela get another word in as she continues. “Your step-sisters take advantage of you. You do all the work for their cleaning business while they don’t lift a finger to help.”

“That’s...” Angela starts before she reconsiders. “Completely true,” she admits.

“Uh huh.” Nyla nods sympathetically.

“But they needs my help.” Angela tries to insist.

“Bullshit!” Nyla exclaims, and Tamara is glad all her tables are taken care of because she wants to stick around to watch this scene play out as her boss spills all the tea. “Sandra and Monica needed your help with the bookkeeping. But when they realized they could fire all their employees and make you do all their work plus yours while paying you practically nothing. They did so and then guilt tripped you by claiming to be family. La Fiera and Monstro are not your family.”

Tamara concludes that ‘La Fiera’ and ‘Monstro’ must be a nicknames for Angela’s step-sisters. If what Nyla says about them is accurate, then ‘beast’ and ‘monster’ are fitting nicknames.

“You’re right. I know you’re right.” Angela hangs her head. “But what else am I supposed to do? I don’t have another job lined up.”

“Why don’t you work for Ms. Harper?” Tamara asks. She wonders if she overstepped when both ladies stare at her as if they only just realized she has been standing here the entire time. “I mean, you’ve been cursing your accounting books all morning so I thought...” she tries to explain her reasoning to her boss while hoping she hasn’t just lost her job.

“She’s right.” Nyla admits. “Tamara, this is Angela Lopez. Angela, this is my new employee Tamara Colins who seems to be well on her way to getting a raise if she keeps having bright ideas like this. I do hate the business side of the restaurant business. I’d much rather be in the kitchen coming up with new recipes. So why don’t you become my new partner and take over all of that so I can get back to doing what I love?” She addresses Angela.

“Really? Just like that?” Angela shakes her head. Not quite believing her friend.

“Yes!” Nyla insists. “Full partners. You’ll make better money. Have better hours. And maybe finally get a chance to go out with a certain handsome lawyer.” She teases.

Angela blushes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Wesley and I fight all the time.”

“Maybe after you go on a date, you’ll get to do something else other than fighting. Put that passion to good use.” Nyla argues. “Give me your phone. I’m texting your ugly step-sisters that you are quitting.”

“They aren’t ugly.” Angela argues are their behalf. Still feeling some loyalty to them.

“They are ugly in their souls.” Nyla retaliates as she reaches for Angela’s phone.

“I can do it myself.” Angela insists as she starts texting with Nyla over shoulder offering advice and a few choice expletives.

Tamara leaves them to work out the details of their new partnership while she goes back to waiting on her tables.

Shortly afterwards she spots Tim and Lucy crossing the street. Tim opens the diner’s door for Lucy as they enter. Tamara gestures that she’ll be right with them as they take their seats in a booth. She brings over a couple of menus, and then quickly returns with glasses of water. Then grabs a notepad from her apron to take their order.

But before she can ask anything, Lucy excitedly asks her own question. “How’s work going?”

“Please reassure her that you are fine because she has been begging me to take our lunch break here since the moment she arrived at the station.” Tim interrupts as he looks around the establishment. “You haven’t burnt the place down yet, so that’s a good sign.”

Tamara glares at him in annoyance as Lucy tilts her head at him incredulously.

“Joke.” He insists to them.

They both roll their eyes and let the moment slide as Tamara answers Lucy’s question. “It’s actually been really good so far. Nyla is a great boss.”

“I told you that you would have nothing to worry about.” Lucy smiles cheerfully.

“Right.” Tamara agrees, but decides it might best to move on to business in order to keep Nyla happy with her. And to stop Tim from complaining. “So what would you like to order?”

“Well, Tim has been in a grumpy mood all day which usually means he needs red meat. It’s too early for steak so bring him a roast beef sandwich.” Lucy insists.

Though Tim narrows his eyes and scowls, he doesn’t disagree with her or change the order. “Lucy will have a veggie burger with extra pickles. We’ll both have fries. And make sure to bring an extra plate of fries so she doesn’t steal mine.” He smirks knowingly, but with a certain fondness.

Tamara silently checks with Lucy that this is correct. Upon receiving a nod in agreement, she steps away to place their orders. Shaking her head at their antics.

After delivering their meals, she continues to help other customers, but every once in a while her attention drifts back to the two friends. Tim’s usually stern expression changes when talking with Lucy. He smiles more, and Tamara swears she even hears him laugh. Granted she has only known the man for a few days, but she didn’t think she would ever see him genuinely laugh. She doubts Tim’s mood has been lightened by the red meat Lucy ordered for him, but rather his deputy’s own company.

That good mood continues for the rest of their meal until Mr. Sanford enters the restaurant and heads straight for Tim and Lucy’s booth. At his appearance, Tim’s spine stiffens and his frown returns. Tamara can’t hear what is being said, but soon the sheriff stands up and leaves Lucy alone with Chris.

Walking up to the counter, he asks Tamara to ring up his and Lucy’s check. Angela is sitting near the cash register when she addresses him. “Hey Tim, did you hear the good news? I quit today.”

“Thank God.” Tim responds without much fanfare. “Your step-sisters are awful.”

“So everyone keeps saying.” Angela admits but chooses not to dwell. “Nyla and I have decided to become business partners.”

“You two?” He looks back and forth between Angela and Nyla dubiously. “Perhaps I spoke too soon about this place not burning down yet.”

“Hush you!” Nyla argues as Angela smacks him on the arm. “Angela and I are going to be the best partners this town has ever seen.”

“Not possible. You can’t beat Tim and mine’s partnership.” Lucy says as she walks up next to Tim. Having heard some of the conversation.

“We’re not partners.” Tim insists automatically. “But she’s right, there will never be a better duo than me and Chen. We’re unbeatable. Basically legends.” Lucy smiles bashfully. Bounces on her feet where she stands after Tim agrees with her, and praises their working relationship.

“We’ll see about that. You’ll be bowing to the new legends soon.” Angela counters as she high fives Nyla.

Before Tim can attempt a comeback, he gets a call over his radio from Nell. “Report of a disturbance at Nolan’s Farm. Possible 2-11.”

“To be continued.” Tim states as he pays the check and leaves Tamara a generous tip. “Let’s go, Chen.” Lucy quickly says her goodbyes to the ladies as she follows Tim out the door.

As Tamara watches them climb into their jeep, she wonders if Lucy even realizes she didn’t bother to say goodbye to Chris.

***

Despite what Lucy told Tamara, Tim’s mood today has actually been rather normal for him. Sure he grumbled a bit when Lucy spoke about her plans to help her new roommate, but that is pretty average for him. Most likely annoyed that her taking the day off meant that he had to either work alone or partner with Smitty. She’s not exactly sure why this would upset him. He always claims to miss the silence of working alone whenever she comments on their personal lives as they patrol.

But aside from warning her to be careful about helping someone who might only disappoint her, he has actually been really supportive. When she stopped by Nyla’s the other day to explain about Tamara before the trial, she had learned that Tim had already spoken to their friend about – in his words – ‘the little street urchin.’ Most of it in Tamara’s favor in order to give her a chance.

Lucy only asked to visit Nyla’s for lunch once when she came into work that morning. Maybe twice. Which Tim was completely agreeable to. Not like they had many different options in their small town. Had she not asked, they probably would have stopped there for lunch anyway.

He even complimented that Tamara seemed to be settling into her new job well. Of course, he didn’t say that to the girl herself. But it is rare for Tim to give praise to anyone directly. He always has been a man of few words. His actions speaking louder.

Still, they had been having a good conversation while eating their meals. She even managed to make him laugh a couple of times when she recounted the tale of Smitty getting his hand caught in the vending machine when he thought his arm was long enough to steal from the bottom row. But when Chris made an appearance, Tim had closed up again. Offering to pay the check so she could speak with her boyfriend alone.

Not that she had actually wanted to be left alone with Chris. Things hadn’t been easy going with him lately. Even before he tried to send a teenager to prison for petty theft. And if Tim had been cautious about her helping Tamara, Chris had been downright livid.

Well, as angry as someone with Chris’ personality could get. He has never been very animated in his emotions. At least not in any way that stirs Lucy’s own passionate responses.

Not like… well, not like someone else she could name.

The current issue is that Chris isn’t happy about Tamara moving in with Lucy. Last month he had asked her to live with him, but she refused. Claiming that she enjoyed living on her own for the first time in a long while since Jackson moved out. Which isn’t true. She missed having someone to greet her when she came home. Missed arguing about which movies and television shows to watch. While Chris can provide her those moments, the connection she has with him while they hang out just isn’t enough. Not enough for a friend. Certainly not for a serious boyfriend.

She wants that overwhelming feeling of excitement when she sees her lover each day. An electric buzz that courses through her veins from a simple touch. Someone who makes her heart so full that she believes at any moment she could burst into song.

But also someone who makes her feel safe in his arms. Not a boring kind of predictable safe with someone who leads a perfectly average life. But the kind of safety one has knowing she could find herself in a dangerous situation, and still be okay because he always has her back. To know he will always find her if she is missing.

The point being Chris doesn’t fit the bill. If he ever did. She’s beginning to wonder what she ever saw in him in the first place. Did she spend so much time waiting for someone to come along that she took the first man who showed clear interest in her? If that is what happened, does this mean she missed her chance with someone else? Will she spend the rest of her days dreaming for someone who might never feel the same?

Lucy is so distracted by her thoughts, she doesn’t even realize they have reached John Nolan’s farm until Tim turns off the engine. The scene in front of them is almost pure chaos as they watch several farm hands try to wrangle various animals back into their pens.

According to John, he believes some local kids decided to play a prank by letting all the animals escape. Normally he would not have bothered reporting anything, but the vandals managed to break into the barn causing damage. So he needs a police report for insurance reasons.

Tim and Lucy help him with a head count to make sure none of the animals are missing. “I can’t find Gerald,” John informs them.

“Gerald?” Lucy asks.

“One of my goats.” He answers simply.

“You named your goat Gerald?” Tim asks in humorous disbelief.

“Do you have a better name for a goat?” John questions, and reluctantly Tim shrugs as he admits he doesn’t.

They do a quick search around the barn and grounds, but amazingly it is where Gerald is found that surprises everyone. He had somehow managed to climb through the open window of their jeep and is currently sitting in Lucy’s seat. Who knew goats could jump?

Tim crosses his arms as he smirks. “Well, it’s your seat so that makes him your problem,” he addresses Lucy.

Sending a tight smile his way, she carefully opens the passenger door. She tries to direct Gerald to hop down, but he won’t budge. She doesn’t want to hurt him by grabbing his legs or get kicked for her efforts if he doesn’t want to be touched. So she does the only thing she can think of and makes goat noises at him.

She can hear Tim and John snickering behind her, but she’s determined now. After a series of trying random bleats, she gives into frustration with an exasperated plea. “Gerald, will you please go back to your pen?” Suddenly the goat’s ears perk up, and Gerald jumps down from her seat. Once clear of the jeep, he trots back toward the goat pen without delay.

Lucy beams at her achievement, but the true reward is the priceless looks on John’s and Tim’s faces.

“I never seen anything like that.” John swears as he has waves goodbye so he can get back to work.

“I’m going to have to start calling you ‘goat whisperer’,” Tim says amusingly. “Is it all animals that you can communicate with or just farm animals? How about forest ones? Want to try out your skills on that chipmunk over there?” He points to the woodland creature currently sitting on a fence post.

“Very funny,” she comments but otherwise chooses to ignore his teasing as she climbs back into the vehicle after checking to make sure Gerald didn’t leave any mess for her to clean.

Tim is still laughing as he starts the engine, but as Lucy rolls her eyes she catches sight of the chipmunk staring back at her.

She shakes her head as she internally laughs at herself. What happened with Gerald just now is mere coincidence.
There is no way she can actually talk to animals because that would be ridiculous.

Like something out of a dream.

***

When Lucy comes home at the end of the day, Tamara is resting on the sofa. Completely worn out after a double shift, but excited to have a lot of tip money. Despite Lucy’s insistence that she doesn’t need the money, Tamara wants to help with her fair share of rent and utilities. For now, all Lucy is willing to budge on is a share in the grocery expenses.

“So how was your first day at work?’ Lucy inquires as she plops down on her side of the sofa after her new roommate moves her feet.

“Hard… but good. I feel like I met everyone in town today.” The door to Nyla’s Place would barely close before another patron walked in.

“Yeah, just about everyone comes to Nyla’s for at least one meal a day. She serves the best food in town.” And she knows it too, Lucy thinks about her friend. Which is why hardly anyone gives Nyla any trouble. They don’t want to be cut off from her delicious food any more than they want the ass kicking the tough woman is sure to give them. Hence why it was such a surprise that someone would have broken into her restaurant.

“But the best spot for pizza is Tony’s. You in?” Lucy asks as she reaches for the phone.

“Yes!” Tamara readily agrees. She already loves Nyla’s food, but she spent all day at the diner and is looking for some variety. Lucy puts in their order, and as they wait for the delivery, they each discuss their busy day.

“Nyla told me that all produce, meats, and supplies are grown or made here in town. Is that true?” Tamara asks.

“Yep.” Lucy nods. “We have our own farms, mining operations, factories, and anything else you could want here. We even have fishermen making catches daily. We’re pretty self sufficient.”

Tamara wonders why no one else finds this strange. No outside commerce ships products to the town? And with the way almost everyone stared at her in awe, some even stopping by the diner just to meet her, she must be the first new person to set foot in this place for a while. If what Nyla and Angela said is true, everyone who lives in town was born here. And no one ever leaves. Not even when they die as the town has its own cemetery too.

Perhaps this tiny burgh isn’t as small as she once thought. To accommodate all its people and necessary businesses to facilitate them. But then why couldn’t she find it on the map? And how could it stretch out far enough without more strangers passing through? Does it have some kind of TARDIS capabilities to disguise its true size? Perhaps a sort of cloaking device set around the perimeter?

Before she can question Lucy about it, there is a knock at the door. Their pizza must have arrived. She offers to get it before the other woman can stand up. Not bothering to check the peephole, Tamara opens the door.
Big mistake. She should have looked first.

Because on the other side of the threshold is not the pizza delivery guy, but a sinister red haired woman grinning in a very unpleasant manner.

Rosalind Dyer slithers into the apartment without permission. Forcing Tamara to move aside as the retched woman turns her nose up at the decor in Lucy’s home. Everything is bright and bubbly like the owner. So very different from the sleek lines and dark coloring of Rosalind’s outfit. Rosalind’s home is probably a pristine mansion with rooms no one actually lives in because of the cold, hard furniture and disturbing atmosphere. But plenty of mirrors to capture her vain appearance.

Or perhaps Mayor Dyer lives in a crypt. Somehow that would actually make more sense.

Lucy swiftly moves closer to the teen the moment Rosalind enters. Stepping in front of her, the deputy now stands between her young charge and any possible danger. “What are you doing here, Rosalind?”

“As mayor of this wonderful town, I came to welcome it’s newest resident.” Her words are polite, but the chilling smile that accompanies them don’t make anyone feel particularly welcomed.

Indeed, the looks Lucy and Tamara share must have informed Rosalind that they aren’t buying what she’s selling. She drops the smile, and sets her cruel eyes on the teenager. “Fine. In spite of all the trouble you’ve caused since you got here, young lady, I am willing to be magnanimous. I will speak with the judge to have your conviction erased, payoff your misdeeds, and you can leave this place immediately. No record, no problem. Go your merry little way and forget all about this place. It will be like you never even crossed the town line to begin with.”

Tamara doesn’t say anything as she watches Lucy. Her friend’s posture remains on guard, eyes never wavering from their ‘guest.’ However, she can tell the frown on her face and the dejection in Lucy’s eyes are not caused by Rosalind. She must think the younger girl is eager to take the offer and run. Be free of her problems and this town.

But Tamara has no desire to leave. She doesn’t want to abandon the first person who ever showed her any true kindness. “Thank you for the offer, Mayor Dyer, but I’m staying with Lucy.” At this, the woman in question finally turns to look at her. Smiling as tears start to shine in her eyes when Tamara continues, “She believes in me, and I want to prove to her that I’m worthy of her trust. So I will remain in town and finish serving my sentence. Who knows? Maybe I’ll stay even longer. Storybrooke truly is a very enchanting place to call home.”

“We’ll see about that.” Rosalind scoffs. Turning her attention away from Tamara now that she can’t get what she wants from her. “Lucy, do you really think you are capable of raising a child?”

Tamara would be more offended by the insult and insist that she doesn’t need any more raising, if she hadn’t become so intrigued by what happens next. Lucy squares her shoulders as she advances on the red head. Crowding the vile woman’s personal space as she refuses to be intimidated in her own home. Pushing the intruder back into the hallway. “Whatever I am or am not capable of, I will certainly raise a child better than you.” She yells as she slams the door in Rosalind’s face.

Leaning against the back of the door, Lucy releases a much needed breath. An awkward silence follows as Tamara watches Lucy calm down. She doesn’t want to upset her friend, but she has so many more questions now. “I’m sensing there is some kind of past between the two of you.”

More in control now, Lucy steps away from the door. Stepping into the kitchen, she grabs a cloth and unnecessarily wipes down an already clean dish. Needing to do something with her hands to help her relax. “Rosalind is my step-mother.” She states with vacant emotion. “My mother died when I was a baby. My father married Rosalind shortly after. Even though she is technically the only mother I have ever known, she has never once acted maternally in that role.”

Lucy tosses the dishrag down on the counter. Having given up the pretense of cleaning. Now her tears come on strong as she continues, “I was only eight years old when my father died. Afterwards, Rosalind didn’t even pretend to care about my well being. I was raised by nannies until I was old enough to take care of myself. And when I turned eighteen, she kicked me out of my home.”

Lucy wipes away her tears, and shakes herself out of her discomfort. Stepping away from the kitchen and back into the center of the apartment. “It all turned out fine. I soon found some friends to take me in. They showed me the compassionate I had been missing all my life. I wouldn’t be who I am today without my friends. They are my family.”

She smiles as she thinks about her life. “I am surrounded by people I love, and I have a great job. Tim trained me. Taught me everything I know about law enforcement. I owe a lot to him.” Lucy bites her lip as she recalls. “And for some unfathomable reason, Rosalind never could stand to see me happy. So she tried to get Tim to fire me, but he refused. Said he spent too much effort in training me, and if he wanted to fire me, then it would be on his terms only.”

Tamara laughs softly at this information. “I’m surprised Rosalind didn’t try to get rid of Tim.”

“Oh, she definitely wanted to,” Lucy explains. “But no one else in this town wants the sheriff’s position, and no one else can do it as well as Tim can. Except for maybe me. Which is probably the real reason Tim refused to fire me. He knows he will never find a better deputy than me.” She laughs to herself. “That and I’m the only one who can tolerate his gruff attitude and stoic nature for more than an hour or two.”

“I’m sure there are probably other reasons Tim wants to keep you around him all day.” Tamara suggests knowingly.

Lucy blushes as she scrambles for a denial, but thankfully she is saved from further embarrassment by another knock at the door. “Hopefully, that is actually the pizza. I’m getting the door.” She allows for no argument this time.

As they settle on the sofa to eat dinner and watch television, Tamara decides to withhold any further questioning about Rosalind for a later date. Not wanting to trouble Lucy anymore tonight. For now, she plans to do some more investigating on her own. She has a feeling Rosalind’s invasive interest in her new presence is just the tip of the iceberg of this town’s inherent strangeness.

Whatever may happen, Tamara will travel as far down the rabbit hole as she needs to get the answers she seeks.

Chapter Text

“As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope, for who could ever learn to love a beast?”
- Beauty and the Beast

Over the next few weeks, Tamara finds herself in steady rhythm. Usually managing at least one shift at the diner and a few hours of community service each day. Under Lucy’s suggestion, she has done most of her service work as a volunteer at the hospital. She met with her roommate’s best friend Dr. West who vouched for her in the program. At least once a week, Lucy joins Tamara at the hospital. Most of Lucy’s time there is spent visiting with another friend of hers named Rachel. Unfortunately, Rachel had been in a car accident a year ago. She has been in a coma ever since, but Lucy never misses a week to spend time with her dear friend. She swears that Rachel can hear her and that talking to her helps. Lucy might be right because according to Dr. Sawyer, Rachel’s doctor, she has been showing remarkable improvement in the last couple of weeks. And so whenever Tamara volunteers, she spends at least part of her time speaking to Rachel as well. Maybe some day soon the beautiful woman will wake from her deep slumber.

Though Tamara keeps busy, she does observe a few more peculiarities about Storybrooke. By now, she had met nearly every citizen. She knew all the regulars at Nyla’s by name and had memorized most of their usual meals. On a whole, the townspeople are generally nice and good. But she still finds it odd that no one has ever questioned leaving this place even for a short vacation. None even thought about what lied beyond the town limits. But the oddest part is how familiar each person seems to her upon meeting them even though she has never known them before. Some unique part of their personality triggers a memory in her brain. Not anything specific like knowing them personally, but more like she has heard their story before. This happening once, even twice, could be a coincidence. But the same occurrence happening with nearly everyone she encounters is too much to ignore.

On one Saturday day morning, Tamara walks out of her room to discover Tim standing in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee. Nodding to her as though she shouldn’t be surprised to find him in the middle of her apartment. Does Lucy know he is here? Did he just walk in? Does he have his own key? She knows for a fact that Chris does not have a key even though he is Lucy’s boyfriend.

She is just about to ask Tim why he is here when Lucy exits her room in activewear.

“Oh, hey. I didn’t know you’d be up this early.” Her roommate says as she walks over to the refrigerator and pulls out a couple bottles of water. Seemingly unperturbed by the fact that her boss is watching her as he continues to sip his coffee.

“I thought I’d help Nyla today with the morning rush.” Tamara answers as she eyes the two law enforcement officers maneuver around each other with practiced ease as Lucy fills a backpack with protein bars and the aforementioned water.

“Oh, okay.” Lucy responds without looking at Tamara. She concentrates on reaching for a thermos at the top of the cabinet. Tim grabs the thermos without being asked, pours some coffee into it, and hands it over to Lucy triumphantly. Why did she even place the thermos on the top shelf anyway? Is this like some ritual of theirs?

After taking a few sips, Lucy finally answers the question Tamara has been wanting to know. “Tim, Kojo, and I are going on a hike. We do go at least once a month.”
“Kojo?” Tamara asks. At the sound of his name, a brown and white pitbull moves from behind the sofa where he had been hiding to sniff at the young girl. After approving of her presence, he sits and waits for her to pet him which she eagerly does.

“Kojo is the best dog in the world,” Lucy claims. “First of his name. King of canines. Destroyer of chew toys.” She bends down to give the dog lots of pets and kisses. “Oh, I nearly forgot. I got a new dog bone for him.” She says as she returns to the cabinets to grab it.

“He’s never going to be a good hunting dog if you keep spoiling him.” Tim protests, but doesn’t make any effort to physically stop Lucy from giving Kojo the new rawhide bone.

“Of course, he can.” Lucy replies as she baby talks to the dog. “Can’t you, my handsome boy? You can catch all the rabbits and foxes in the forest.”

Tim scoffs. “Knowing you, you’ll probably having him making friends with a fox.”

“He can do that too if he wants.” Lucy shrugs as she stands up. “He is technically still my dog.”

“I’m the one who trained him and is taking care of him,” Tim insists.

“Only because Jackson didn’t want to live with a dog,” Lucy argues. She then turns to question Tamara. “Would you mind living with a dog?”

“No,” Tamara shakes her head. “I think I might like having a dog around. I never had a pet growing up.”

Tim wags his finger at Lucy as he asks incredulously. “First, you set your doe eyes on me. Pleading with me to take Kojo for you, and now you want me to give him back?”

Lucy considers for a moment, then sighs. “No, he is happy with you. I don’t want to remove him from his home where he has a backyard to run around. He’d be too cooped up here all day.” Then almost as an afterthought she adds, “Besides Chris is allergic to dogs. He sneezes up a storm if he is around any dog hair so he’d never be able to come over.”

“Now there’s a good reason to take Kojo back.” Tim mutters into his coffee cup.

Lucy either doesn’t hear him or is choosing to ignore his statement. Instead she looks sullenly at Kojo who seems to have noticed her mood as he whines and nudges at her legs. “I just miss cuddling with him.” She claims as she gently scratches the dog behind his ears.

Like Kojo, his owner also feels the need to comfort Lucy so he offers softly, “You can come over anytime you want to cuddle.”

Doesn’t escape Tamara’s notice that Tim’s proposition to Lucy does not specify the cuddling has to be with Kojo.

Tim catches sight of the girl smirking knowingly at him, and he coughs nervously. Without hesitation, he sets his coffee cup in the sink as he grabs the backpack. “Let’s get going. We’re wasting time. Come, Kojo.” He orders with authority as the dog obediently follows his master out the door.
Lucy picks up the dog bone to return to Kojo for later. Grabs her thermos, and with a quick goodbye and wave at the teenager, she is also out the door.

Tamara shakes her head at the two clueless idiots. Wondering just how long this behavior has been going on and when will they finally notice.

***

Despite Tim’s claim to the contrary, Nyla and Angela’s partnership is turning out to be quite the boon for the restaurant. Angela handles the business side of bookkeeping and ordering from vendors which frees up Nyla to work more in the kitchen. As a result, she has had more time devoted to trying new dishes which the customers seem to favor.

Tamara loves working for both of her bosses. Especially because they seem to know everything about everyone in town. Nothing gets by either of the two ladies. And together they are a force to be reckoned with.

The teenager considers how to broach the subject of Tim and Lucy. Surely, she can’t be the only one who has noticed how they act around one another, but she doesn’t know how her bosses will feel about gossiping about their friends. Carefully she inquires, “So how long has Lucy been dating Chris?” Realizing this a question she knows she could have easily have asked Lucy herself, she amends. “I mean I know they are together, but she doesn’t really talk about him.” Which is true. If she hadn’t seen the man kiss Lucy her first day in town, she probably would not know they are dating.

“Oh, I believe that has been going on a few months now.” Nyla surmises as she verifies with Angela.

“Six months.” Angela states. “Judging by how long exactly Tim has been in this particularly bad mood.”

Jackpot! But still Tamara can’t say what she suspects until she has concrete evidence. “Isn’t Tim always in a bad mood? I thought that was his default mode.”

Angela laughs. “He can be surly, for sure. Definitely stoic and even brooding at times. But he has gotten a lot better since Lucy became his deputy. He smiles more and is slightly more easy going. Don’t get me wrong, I like the man. He’s my best friend. But he’s not often friendly with everyone.”

“Unlike Lucy who is friendly with almost everyone.” Tamara states the obvious.

Angela becomes quiet as she thinks about what she has to say. “Tim hasn’t always had the easiest life, but Lucy… well, I think she helps him forget his troubles.”

“So he’s protective of her? Makes sure any man who dates her is worthy of her.” Tamara judges though she has a strong sense it is more than that.

“Something like that.” Angela refuses to say more.

Trying a different tactic, Tamara asks, “Has Tim ever dated anyone?”

“Until a few months ago, he was dating a woman named Ashley,” Nyla answers. “She’s a lifeguard at the beach.”

“Which was weird because Tim hates the ocean,” Angela adds, “and that woman loves to swim so much she is practically a mermaid.”

“Ha!” Nyla laughs at the assessment. “She’s dating the captain of one of the local fishing boats now, and Tim hasn’t even acknowledged her existence since they broke up so I guess it all worked out in everyone’s favor.”

Going for broke, Tamara states, “And I guess Tim doesn’t mind because all of his focus is on Lucy.” Angela and Nyla say nothing, but they share a conspiratorial look so she knows she must be on the right track. “Is Lucy the only one who doesn’t know he has feelings for her?”

Dropping her shoulders, Angela sighs. “Sometimes I’m not even sure Tim knows.”

“You haven’t asked him?” The young girl questions.

“Tim isn’t very open with his feelings,” Angela insists. “Even to his best friend.”

“Usually the only person who can get Tim to talk is Lucy,” Nyla adds, “and well...” She leaves that thought dangling.

“And he’ll never tell her how he feels as long as he doesn’t think there is a chance she could feel the same way,” Tamara concludes. “Has anyone ever thought about just confronting them?”

“Oh no,” Angela asserts. “Those two are so deep in denial, they’ll never believe it unless it comes right from the source. Best to just let them be.”

“They’ll figure it out someday,” Nyla agrees. “Hopefully.” She adds. Lacking her usual confidence in matters.

“They have such different personalities.” Tamara admits as she shakes her head thinking about their differences. “They probably shouldn’t work, but they do. Almost like Beauty and the Beast.”

Upon Angela and Nyla giving her quizzical looks, she elaborates. “You know the Disney movie. Based on a fairy tale. A French one, I think.” They don’t seem to understand so she continues. “She is a beautiful girl who likes books, and he’s… a literal beast.” How can they not know what she is talking about? The original animated Disney film is older than her so they must be old enough to have at least grown up with it. “She must fall in love with him by the time the last rose petal falls or else he’ll remain a beast forever. Oh, and there are talking inanimate objects. They can move and stuff. Like they are human because they used to be.” Okay, after that she probably does sound crazy and is deserving of them looking at her like she lost mind. “Trust me, it’s really famous,” she finishes as she gives up.

So strange that they wouldn’t have at least a little clue as to what she is talking about. Tamara tries searching for clips of the movie on YouTube, but it must be copyright protected because she can’t find a single one. When her shift is over, she’ll visit the library to see if they have a copy of the film or at least a book of classic fairy tales.

Just before the lunch rush, Lucy walks into the diner alone. “No Tim?” Tamara questions.

Lucy shakes her head. “He took Kojo back home to rest. But we had a great hike. Got in a very good work out together.”

“I know another way the two of you can get a good work out together,” Angela mumbles under her breath.

“What?” Lucy asks having not heard her clearly. Or so she’ll claim.

“Nothing.” Angela answers quickly. Changing the subject immediately, she says, “Hey, I have an excellent idea. How about we have a girls night out? We can hit The Cat’s Meow.”

“What’s The Cat’s Meow?” Tamara asks.

“It’s a night club in town.” Nyla informs her. “Only persons twenty-one and older allowed. Sorry.”

“That’s okay.” Tamara shrugs indifferently. “I’ve got plans for tonight anyway.”

“What plans?” Lucy inquires with protective older sister energy.

Not ready to admit her plans involve researching the town, instead Tamara comments on some other ideas she has had lately. “I’m thinking about researching colleges. Maybe take some courses online.”

“Oh, you know we have a great University in town,” Lucy suggests. Why is Tamara not surprised to hear this? What doesn’t this town have? “You might enjoy Professor Porter’s classes on primatology. Or Professor Thatch’s courses on archaeology.”

“Just be sure to avoid Professor Ratigan,” Nyla interjects. “He’s awful, malicious, and a true testament to his name.”

“Will do.” Tamara assures her. “You guys have a good time tonight.”

“So it’s all set.” Angela claps her hands together.

“I thought you wanted to spend all your free time with Wesley,” Lucy teases.

“We can afford to spend one night apart.” Angela insists. “Keeps the mystery in our relationship alive. And that’s part of the fun. Just the other night I kept him up way past midnight and made him late for work the next morning.”

Lucy and Nyla shake their heads at their friend’s antics, but make no further comment. They finalize their plans to meet at the club tonight.

Meanwhile Tamara is looking forward at a chance to do more investigating. She is determined to figure out this town’s secrets once and for all.

***

When Tamara gets to the library, she discovers that it is sorely lacking in its fictional selection. Not only does it not have any medium for Beauty and the Beast, it also lacks other fairy tales and most other fiction stories. None of the novels predate the 1970s, and none are newer than early 2000s.

She can’t find any story that even hints at a fairy tale reference. She thinks this is incredibly strange even for a small town. Maybe not having some of the more recent novels would make since especially given how isolated this place is. But to have no book older than fifty years? Or newer than a decade?

None of the basic fairy tales that connect people everywhere? Not even stories specific to certain cultures and heritage? How would these people learn about morality? About right and wrong? Good versus evil? That’s what fairy tales are meant to do. Inspire people’s imagination and sense of fairness so that even a young child might understand. Fairy tales teach the most basic understanding of human existence. Starting from their oral traditions until they were finally written down. Each new version reflecting the values of the time. Without these types of stories, the world would be left to develop in utter chaos.

And then Tamara thinks about all the people she has met in this town. How familiar they all seem. As if she has heard about them somewhere else before. As if she has known these people… these characters all her life. She remembers Lucy’s story about her step-mother Rosalind. How wicked and cruel and evil the woman is. Compared to Lucy who is the most kindest and fairest person Tamara has ever known.

Lucy’s story reminds of her… well, it almost reminds her of Snow White. Sure, Lucy doesn’t fit the classic description of the maiden on which the Disney film is based, but then many cultures have their own versions of the tale that can be similar in concept while differing in specific details. Lucy’s hair might not be dark black as ebony. Or her lips as deep red as blood. And her skin is certainly not as white as snow. But when it came to what truly matter about the character: her heart; well, Lucy has the most pure heart of anyone in this entire town. A heart as pure as snow.

She knows that if she were to suggest the idea that fairy tale characters have come to life and are living in a small town in California, no one would ever believe her. She can barely believe it herself. But this is the only idea that makes sense. All the puzzle pieces fit into place too well to be anything else.

And what’s worse is that no one in town seems to be aware of their true identities and grand origins. They don’t seem unhappy for the most part. Living their lives as humbly as they do. But shouldn’t they have the right to know who they are. To understand the most basic part of themselves and live freely in that life?

Tamara does a quick google search to help confirm her suspicions by comparing her roommate to the legendary character. But almost as soon as the results appear on her screen, they disappear just as quickly. No matter what she does, she can’t retrieve any answers. Checking other fairy tale stories only produces the same outcome. She simply can’t find the information she seeks. As if someone is purposely hiding this knowledge from not just her but from everyone in town.

She has a sneaking suspicion that only one person could gain from controlling all the other residents: Mayor Rosalind Dyer.

For the moment, Tamara knows she can’t go to anyone else with this insight just yet. She needs to gather more evidence. Find more proof of her theory first so that no one can deny her accusations. Once she does, she might finally be able to help the friends who have become so dear to her.

With hard work and perhaps a little luck, she might just be able to save everyone.

***

Lucy, Angela, and Nyla enter The Cat’s Meow and are immediately shown to one of the best tables in the house. Being friends with the owner’s son Aaron Thorsen has its perks. The night club has various theme nights. Most popular being Jazz Night. However, tonight’s theme has a more laid back bluesy vibe.

Aaron greets them warmly and offers them drinks on the house. He has much respect for Nyla who gave him a job when he wanted to venture out on his own before accepting a job from his wealthy parents. She didn’t treat him like a spoiled rich kid. Made him work to prove himself and everything he has learned about running a club, he learned from Nyla managing her own business. He feels as though he owes a lot to her. That and he is still a bit afraid of her. So free drinks is the very least he can do.

“You look absolutely amazing tonight, Lucy.” Angela says over the gentle beat of the band’s music. Her friend has taken her advice to go all out when dressing up tonight. Wearing a vibrant green dress that dips low in the front. Despite what she had said to Tamara, Angela is hoping Tim and Lucy will get their shit together sooner rather than later. And if she has to help matters along, then so be it. That dress will certainly make Angela’s mission easier to complete tonight.

A few songs have gone by when by supposedly complete surprise Wesley, James, and Tim make an appearance in front of their table. Wesley pulls up a chair next to Angela while James claims the empty seat by Nyla. Tim awkwardly accepts the last open spot by Lucy. Smiling cutely as he sits down next to her.

“What brings you here tonight?” Angela asks the men.

Wesley leans in towards her ear and whispers a little too loudly, “What do you mean? You called me and told me to get Tim… ahhhhh!” He screams at the sudden pain from his foot being stepped on. Realizing his mistake, he changes tune. “I just thought I could use a night out with friends so I called up James and Tim. Purely a coincidence to choose this place.”

“Yeah, of all the places to grab a drink, odd that Wesley insisted we come here,” Tim says as he narrows his eyes on Angela.

His best friend shrugs indifferently to what she knows she is being accused. “Great minds think alike is all.”

“Or maybe it’s one of those couple things where you start being on the same wavelength?” Nyla adds thoughtfully. “You and Lucy know what I’m talking about, right Tim? You two always seem to read each other’s minds.”

Tim glances at Lucy who is also at a loss for words after being put on the spot like this. True that they do have a strong ability to silently communicate. An almost innate sense to know what the other needs. But they aren’t a couple. Not in the romantic sense of the word.

Rather than argue the point and risk embarrassing himself or Lucy any further, Tim drops the discussion. Opting to send not so subtle glares at his supposed friends instead.

Thankfully, he is saved from an extended awkwardness by their waitress Celina stopping by to take the guys’ drink orders and see if the ladies want another round. Celina is a bit of an odd character. Some say because she was sheltered by her mother from a young age. Others say it’s just who she is. She believes in astrology and other forms of divination and parapsychology. She considers reading palms and tea leaves or interpreting dreams and birth charts to be her true profession. Working at the club is just a way to pay the bills and meet new clients.

Returning with their drinks, Celina mentions, “Have you noticed there has a shift in the atmosphere in town lately? It’s a sign that a big change is on the horizon. I know it will happen soon because my pet changed colors today.”

“Isn’t your pet a chameleon?” Tim asks with sarcastic skepticism.

“Yeah. What’s your point?” Celina stares at him while he stares back thinking his point should be obvious. When she doesn’t budge, he realizes the futility of his efforts. Lucy laughs at his annoyance as she thanks Celina for their drinks so she can move on to another table.

For the next several minutes, the group of friends catch up. Angela and Nyla talk about their successes with the diner. James mentions the latest initiatives and advantages to helping out at the community center. Wesley can’t speak very openly about his clients so he talks about his mother pressuring him to meet Angela. Which then leads to an argument about why he won’t introduce his new girlfriend to his mother. Which in turn leads to a dinner invitation for Angela to his mother’s house the next weekend.

Tim and Lucy also have to be careful about what they can say about their work. But Tim does decide to regale the table with the incident at Nolan’s farm and Gerald the Goat. Soon they are both animatedly describing the tale in detail. Much to the amusement of their friends who while they may not fully understand the humor of the story, do understand the partnership Tim and Lucy exhibit in every aspect of their life. Getting lost in their own bubble as they laugh together. Never taking their eyes off one another.

When they come back to the real world and realize the entire table is silently studying them, they fidget self-consciously. “I guess you had to be there,” Lucy claims trying to ease the awkwardness.

Saving them in that moment, the band begins a new song. “I want to dance,” Angela declares as she pulls Wesley to his feet. Giving him no choice but to obey.

James then asks Nyla to dance, and so only Tim and Lucy are left at their table. Noticing the way Lucy wistfully admires the other couples dancing, Tim stands up. Offering out his hand in a gesture for Lucy to take.

Surprised, Lucy gracefully accepts Tim’s hand as he leads them out to the dance floor. Holding her close as he wraps his other arm around her back to steady her.
“I thought you said you couldn’t dance.” She reminds him.

“I said I didn’t. I never said I couldn’t,” Tim smiles teasingly as he glides her into a spin.

They are both quiet for a moment before Tim gathers the courage to say what he has been wanting to tell Lucy all night. “You look very beautiful tonight… not that you don’t always look lovely… just...” Tim searches for the words to get him out of this predicament. “You’re amazing.” He says as he looks her over. Wincing at how lame he sounds. So nervous that he even drops the word ‘look’ from his sentence. But his Freudian slip is more truthful to what he wants to tell her every day.

He’s still not sure if that is the right thing to say, but thankfully Lucy smiles brightly at the compliment. “Thank you.” She says, kindly letting him off the hook.

Nothing else is said between them as they move closer together. Lucy pressing her body almost fully into Tim as his arms hold her tightly against him. Feeling the heat of each other as their cheeks touch. Not even the slightest bit of light can pass between them.

Tim closes his eyes as he breathes in the captivating scent of Lucy. Often she has a floral scent following her. Jasmine or lilies, but tonight she smells fruity. Like a fresh baked apple pie. Takes all of his control not to ask for a taste from her.

Swaying softly to the music in each other’s arms, somehow the world has slowed and calmed for them. As if the music plays for only the two of them. Neither feels more alive than they do in this moment. Perhaps what they both always wanted has indeed been right beside them all along.

Tim slightly pulls back to look into Lucy’s enchanting brown eyes. His own eyes drop to her tempting full, red lips. He dips his head nearer to her. Believing he could finally reach for happiness with the gentle caress of her mouth on his.

But just as they are about to finally get their moment, he hears a voice from behind Lucy. “Mind if I cut in?”

Tim jerks his head up to see Chris standing nearby with an unpleasant frown. While dancing Tim could forget that Lucy has a boyfriend. That she isn’t his to kiss. She is not his to love. But that moment has passed, and he can no longer pretend.

He nods silently as he steps away from Lucy so that Chris may take his place. He smiles at her as he bids her goodbye. Trying to mask his pain. Likely failing, but there is nothing he can do about that now. She is not his.

Walking away, he turns back only once. Meets Lucy’s eyes as she watches him over Chris’ shoulder.

Tim shakes his head at his own foolishness. How could he possibly believe in his romantic dreams with Lucy?

He is not meant to have a happy ending.

Chapter Text

“Try to make the world a better place. Look inside yourself and recognize that change starts with you. It starts with me. It starts with all of us.”
- Zootopia

When Tim and Lucy begin their next shift after dancing together at The Cat’s Meow, things are awkward to put it mildly. Tim has barely spoken a word to Lucy since she got to work that morning. Which isn’t that odd for him, but she hasn’t said anything to him either. Too scared and unsure of how to approach the subject.

She felt a change in their relationship during that dance. Maybe one that has been a long time coming. But she doesn’t know if Tim feels the same. What if he doesn’t feel anything more for her than friendship? What if she lays her heart on the line, and he rejects the idea all together? She doesn’t know what will hurt worse: embarrassing herself or learning he doesn’t feel how she feels.

And she is not even sure how she feels. The mood at the club had been decidedly romantic that night. They were the only two single people out with their couple friends. Maybe the atmosphere clouded their minds and their judgment. Maybe they aren’t really responsible for anything that may or may not have happened that night.

Except she isn’t single. She has a boyfriend. One who showed up at the worst possible moment. Right when she thought Tim might kiss her.

And isn’t that an answer to the question she has been asking herself recently? Why is she still dating Chris? To consider that her boyfriend spoiled a moment between her and another guy. Not just any guy though.

He’s Tim.

The best guy she knows.

The most important relationship in her life.

Except what exactly is that relationship? What more can that relationship be? What more does she want it to be?

These thoughts have been driving her crazy since Saturday night. She could barely sleep and had been on edge all day Sunday. Now it’s Monday, and she is no closer to any answer than she was before.

And Tim is not helping matters with his silent, stoic attitude. Normally she can read him like a book, but he is giving nothing away. If he is as worried about what the dance and almost kiss means, then surely he would not have wanted to patrol with her around town. Volunteering to be stuck inside their jeep together for hours must mean that he doesn’t feel the same because he is unbothered by what happened at the club.

Unless his intention for patrolling is to avoid being stuck inside the station with her all day because he does feel uncomfortable about everything that almost occurred. Maybe he wants to be on the streets so they can find something to do, and thus avoid talking about their behavior that night.

But then why order her to patrol with him? Why not just take Smitty? Okay, she knows why he wouldn’t want to be forced to patrol with Smitty. But then why not go alone? Why insist she patrol with him if he feels awkward about the dance?

Must be because he doesn’t feel weird about it at all. This could all be one sided coming from her. And maybe she is mistaken about the almost kiss too. Maybe he wasn’t going to kiss her at all. Maybe she just wanted him to kiss her, and all he wanted was a friendly dance.

Maybe there wasn’t even a dance. Maybe she imagined it all in her head. Maybe she got hurt on the job, is currently in a coma, and all of this is just one big coma dream.

Maybe she is spiraling.

Maybe she needs to talk to Tim about all of this.

She is not in a coma. The dance was not a dream. But the jury is still out on whether or not he wanted to kiss her. Though she’s pretty damn sure she wanted him to kiss her.

She definitely needs to talk to Tim. But she needs to be careful about how to broach the subject. “So did you enjoy your weekend?” She wants to see if he acknowledges what might have happened between them first.

He answers simply. “Yeah. It was nice hanging out with friends.” Oh, friends. Not ‘our friends,’ but ‘friends.’ Indicating that she is included in that notion of friends. As in they are ‘just friends.’ Not off to a good start.

Forcing some cheer into her voice, she agrees. “I enjoying being with friends. Hanging out, drinking, dancing...” She lets the thought linger to see what he will do next.

Tim nods. “Good to dance with friends. To relish that friendship.” His words feel like a punch to her gut. And if she had been paying more attention, she might have observed the tightness in his voice, but she is too bogged down in her own feelings of rejection.

She was wrong. Wrong about everything. Tim didn’t want to kiss her. He was just being nice to her because they are friends. She wanted to dance that night, and he knew it so he asked her to dance out of the kindness of friendship.

At least she hasn’t made a fool of herself by admitting that she wanted him to kiss her. That she wants to kiss him. They can remain friends, and not let any of this supposed vexation ruin their relationship. That’s for the best.

She can only surmise that she must be a glutton for punishment which is why she asks her next question. Fearful of the answer. “So do you think you might ever try dating again? It’s been a while since you broke up with Ashley.” She hated it when he was dating Ashley. She’ll hate it if he dates someone else too. Only now, she realizes why that is.

Tim considers her question. “I think I’ll remain single. Works best for me. I’m a lone wolf.”

“What?” She’s confused. Sure, Tim is okay when he isn’t dating, but she knows he is at his happiest when he is dating someone. She still wants him to be happy, even if she can’t be that person who makes him so.

“You know. A lone wolf. I prefer to be on my own. Don’t need anyone else.” Tim insists.

“Okay, first of all, that doesn’t make any sense.” Lucy shakes her head. “Wolves are pack animals. They want to be in a pack. Most often when they leave their packs, being alone is temporary because they are looking to form or join a new pack. And those who do travel alone often have higher morbidity rates than those in a pack.” She informs him.

“How do you know so much about wolves?” Tim wonders.

“I watch a lot of nature documentaries.” Lucy challenges him, “So which is it? Are you a lone wolf because you know that it’s only temporary, and you are still looking for a mate? Or are you willing to risk your life because you don’t want to join a pack?”

Tim scoffs. “I don’t think the situation is that dire. I just want to be left alone.”

“Then pick a different animal!” Lucy answers a bit too strongly. Her anger at Tim not reciprocating any feelings might be clouding her judgment. She reigns in her emotions to respond more calmly. “Be a lone pangolin. They are knowing for being solitary animals.”

“What the hell is a pangolin?!” Tim asks in frustration. Probably feeling as ridiculous in this conversation as she feels.

“It’s like a cross between an armadillo and an anteater.” She answers. Really having no idea how they even got this far off topic.

“That sounds absurd. Who wants to be called a lone pangolin? A lone wolf is much better.” Tim argues.

“Well, the scaly exterior of a pangolin certainly fits your personality,” Lucy snarks back.

Tim gives her an annoyed look. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You put walls around yourself. You refuse to let anyone in. You curl up into a ball to protect yourself rather than let someone get pass your tough exterior.” She retorts about just how closed off emotionally Tim is. She was joking before about him being like the animal, but now that she thinks about it, a pangolin does sound more like Tim than any other animal she can name.

Tim looks away from the road to address Lucy. “Hold on. I do not curl up into a ball to protect myself. I...”

Lucy glaces back up in time to shout, “Tim, look out!” as she points to the middle of the street.

Thankfully, Tim has great reaction time and is able to slam on the breaks immediately. Their jeep stops just a few feet short of a woman standing in their path.

Lucy immediately hops out to aide the woman who appears helpless and lost. “Ma’am, are you okay? Are you hurt?” She doesn’t appear to have sustained any injuries. At least not from any impact the jeep might have caused since it narrowly missed her. But her brown hair is disheveled and unkempt. There are bruises along her arms that could possibly be from restraints. Dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep or whatever else was done to her. All signs indicate that she recently escaped from somewhere. A hospital most likely since she is wearing a hospital gown.

The woman doesn’t seem to want to answer. Fear causing her to remain quiet as she hugs her arms against herself. So Lucy tries a different approach. Calmly asking in a gentle tone to convey trust and concern, “Can you tell me your name?”

The woman looks around confused. As though she is searching for the answer in her surroundings as much as in her own mind. She struggles as she finally states. “Bailey… I think my name is Bailey.”

As she looks at Lucy, so unsure if she gave the right answer, the deputy smiles reassuringly so as not to upset her any further. “Okay, Bailey, my name is Lucy. And this is Tim.” She points to the sheriff who has stayed back a few feet in order to let Lucy handle situation and not overcrowd the poor woman. He gives her a simple nod and wave to let her know he can be trusted along with Lucy. “We’re going to help you. We’ll get you some food and get someone to make sure you’re not hurt.”

Bailey must understand what that means because she immediately shakes her head back and forth as she tries to back away. “Not a hospital!”

Lucy holds up her hands in surrender to show she is a threat. “I’m promise we won’t go to the hospital, Bailey. Okay? We’ll take you back to our station. Won’t take you anywhere near the hospital.”

The woman looks at Tim and Lucy wearily. Accessing if she can believe them. Something in their demeanor must finally persuade her as she nods her acceptance and follows Lucy to the back of the jeep.

After Lucy helps Bailey inside and shuts the door, she meets Tim’s eyes over the hood of the car. He doesn’t look pleased with the situation. Protocol would have them taking Bailey immediately to the hospital to be examined by a doctor. Lucy silently begs him to follow along with her promise. Tim relents, nodding his acquiescence and gesturing for her to get back in the jeep.

Lucy smiles at Tim in gratitude for submitting to her wish and trusting her to know what’s best for the moment. He doesn’t say anything further on the subject. However, he does take the long way back to the station in order to avoid the route that passes by the hospital.

***

After a long discussion filled with reassurances, Lucy finally convinces Bailey to let Jackson examine her to make sure she hasn’t sustained any life threatening injuries. Lucy stays by Bailey’s side as Jackson checks her over.

“You have some minor bruising and abrasions. Nothing too serious. I don’t see any signs of badly healed broken bones. Without being able to do any scans, I can tell that there doesn’t seem to be any poor cognitive brain function. I would prefer you come to the hospital so we can do thorough testing to see if you are suffering from any internal issues.” Bailey shakes her head violently at Jackson’s suggestion so he immediately rescinds the idea. “Okay, that’s fine. Then I have to conclude that with some proper nourishment and rest, you should physically recover in time. No more than a few months. Hopefully in a few weeks we will see a vast improvement. I’d like your permission to follow up with you next week to see how you are adjusting. If you are okay with this?” He asks full of concern and patience for Bailey’s predicament. After looking to Lucy and seeing that the deputy fully trusts her doctor friend, she nods in agreement.

Nell brings Bailey some food and stays with her while Lucy, Jackson and Tim step out of the room to discuss the case.

In the hallway, Lucy watches Bailey. Worried about the woman, she asks “Is she really going to be okay?”

Jackson sighs. “Physically, I think so. As to her mental state, I can’t really answer that. I recommend sessions with Dr. Andersen to help her recovery.” The local psychiatrist is extremely good at what she does. Putting all her patients at ease while helping them in therapy. Even Tim is willing to admit how supportive she has been to him. Though the only other person who knows he attends therapy sessions is Lucy. Mostly done so at her recommendation.

“I’ll talk to Bailey about it, and then make the call.” Lucy assures them.

“What’s important now is finding out who did this to her.” Tim states. “From what she’s told us so far, it’s clear she wasn’t the only one held against her will. We need to find where she was taken so we can help those people.”

“Did she give you any indication of where?” Jackson asks.

Lucy shrugs as she explains. “She doesn’t know much. It was a facility that sounded a lot like a hospital. Which explains her fear of them. She said she escaped through a vent in her cell and crawled out a tunnel. It ended in the woods, and she just kept walking until she could find help. At the time, she was pretty delirious so she is not even sure which direction she came from.”

Tim stares Jackson down. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about a secret medical facility, would you?”

The other man balks at the accusation. “My dad is the Chief Medical Officer. If something like this were happening at his hospital, he would know about it. And he would never condone it.” He answers firmly.

“Fine.” Tim relents, “But we’re still going to investigate. You trust your dad. Lucy trusts you so I trust you. But that doesn’t mean everyone at the hospital is squeaky clean. Maybe it’s not happening at your hospital, but someone there might know something. Medical supplies going missing or something like that. Can’t keep an operation like this under wraps without someone noticing.”

“I want to get Bailey settled first. She can’t stay here. It would be cruel to have her sleep in another cell,” Lucy insists.

“You want to open your home to another stray puppy?” Tim questions.

Lucy rolls her eyes, but luckily at that moment John Nolan walks into the station. He must be following up on the incident at his farm. She greets him and explains the situation. John is a good man, and has never been one to turn down someone in need of help.

She introduces Nolan to Bailey and informs her, “John has a farm on the other side of town. It’s quiet and peaceful, and you’re welcome to stay for as long as you need.”

John smiles warmly. “Do you like animals?”

Bailey nods so Nolan patiently sits with her and tells her all about his farm and the animals. She relaxes more and more as they talk, and by the end she is comfortable with leaving with John. Lucy promises to visit at the end of the day and check in with her.

Assured that Bailey will be fine staying with Nolan; Lucy and Tim leave with Jackson so he can aid in their investigation of the hospital staff.

***

Though the hospital is appropriate in size for a small town, there are still several staff members that need to be accounted for. Tim and Lucy decide to split up the list and interview most people on their own. However, for the higher ranking personnel, they choose to work together. Playing their good cop/bad cop roles to perfection. Actually it’s more like nice cop/stern cop.

One of the last people they interview together is Dr. Caleb Wright. He is an attractive man in early thirties with a pleasing smile and a disarming personality. He also relentlessly flirts with Lucy as she questions his background and daily routine.

Tim hates him.

The smarmy doctor even tries to give Lucy his number under the pretense of her needing it in case she has any more questions. Tim snatches it out of the doctor’s hand before Lucy has a chance to take it. Assuring the man that if they have any further questions for him, they know where to find him. Or they could always summon him down to the sheriff’s station. Tim wouldn’t mind locking him up in a cell.

Of course, he doesn’t say that last part out loud; but Lucy eyes him as if she knows what he is thinking. She probably does.

“What?” He asks as he holds out the piece of paper with Caleb’s number. “Did you want this?”

“No,” Lucy shakes her head as she makes no effort to reach for object. “There is something off about that guy. He was… nice.”

That does surprise Tim. “I thought you liked nice.”

“He was too nice.” Lucy elaborates. “Like he was hiding something. Trying very hard to be something he is not. Possibly hiding some part of himself.”

“So you were using your cop eyes. Good.” Tim praises her. “What are we going to do about it?” He tests her to think about what they should do next.

“We don’t have anything concrete yet. If we push him too hard, he might close up; and we’ll get nowhere.” She says as she evaluates the situation. “We should go back to where we found Bailey. Try to find the tunnel and trace it back to where she was held.”

“Good idea.” Tim agrees, “Let’s get going.”

***

Tim and Lucy return to spot where they first saw Bailey. Following her muddy foot tracks and broken bushes, they trace back the path she came from. However any evidence of where she came from eventually disappears. Leaving them stuck in the middle of the woods with no clue as to which way to move forward.

Tim stoops low to the grown searching for any sign of a new track. Finding none, he moves his gaze upwards towards the bushes and branches of the trees. A few feet away he finally spots what he is looking for: a small, broken branch with the tiniest bit of blood. Bailey had quite a few scratches on her when she was examined. As he looks beyond the branch, he discovers more signs of disturbance to help them pick the trail back up. He indicates these to Lucy so that she might know what to look for as they move along.

Working together, Tim and Lucy follow the path until it leads to a dirt road. One that until this moment neither had known existed in Storybrooke. They continue walking along the road. Mindful of any imminent threat in case someone is watching from nearby.

After a mile or so, they see a seemingly abandoned factory in the distance. The dirt road they’ve been traveling on merges into one made of concrete which leads up to the doors of the facility. Spotting guards patrolling the grounds, they sneak behind some trees to take cover.

“What can we do?” Lucy whispers to Tim. “It’s not as though we have a warrant to search the place.”

“Whatever this facility is, it’s operating illegally. I know this entire town like the back of my hand, and this place isn’t located on any map. And if I don’t know about it, then whoever is in charge is definitely up to no good.” Tim surmises.

“As far as we know, anyone could be in charge. If Dr. Wright is involved, do you really believe he is the only one?” Lucy reminds him, and Tim concurs. This place is just way too big and fully operational to be under the purview of just one doctor. Even if that doctor is a very suspicious.

“We need to get a closer look.” Tim suggests and Lucy carefully follows behind him so as not to alert anyone to their presence. They’ve only gone a few feet when they spot a tunnel sticking out from the building. Turning to look at each other, they silently agree that this must be the tunnel Bailey escaped from. Remaining quiet and using hand signals to communicate, they approach the entrance.

On a broken patch of chain length fencing they find a small white piece of cloth that has snared on the wiring. Taking out a glove, Lucy picks up the fabric to get a closer look. The material matches the hospital gown Bailey was wearing when she was found.

“This gives us probable cause to enter.” Tim grins as Lucy places the evidence in a plastic bag and secures it for safe keeping.

Carefully, Tim pulls the chain length fence further out so Lucy can slip through. He follows her as they both pull out their guns with lights on to illuminate the dark tunnel. Luckily, there are no twists or turns so they only have to follow a straight path for several feet. At the end of the tunnel, they find a room with several vents. One of these probably leading to the cell Bailey said she was held.

Instead of searching via the vent, they continue to walk the length of the room until they find a maintenance door. Tim exits first as he checks no one else is around before signaling Lucy to follow. They travel down one corridor and then another until they find what they were unfortunately looking for:

A row of cells. Each with a prisoner held captive. Each person looking more sad and dejected than the next. They count fourteen people in total. Bailey making number fifteen.

Lucy appears so absolutely heartbroken at the state of their distress that Tim feels compelled by the need to comfort her. “It’s gonna be okay. We’ll get them help. Real help.”

Lucy nods as she composes herself to prepare for what next. At that precise moment, a person in a lab coat rounds the corner. Armed, Tim orders the apparent doctor to the ground while Lucy handcuffs him. “Who is in charge here?” Tim demands.

“Dr. Wright.” The man answers quickly. Not wanting to risk being shot.

“I knew there was something off about him.” Tim mentions to Lucy.

She agrees as she felt it too. “Where’s Dr. Wright’s office?” She asks the man. Caleb must have an office in this facility. With all the necessary paperwork that can be used as evidence against him.

The other doctor leads them to Caleb’s office as Tim questions how many guards are currently patrolling the facility, and if there are any other prisoners held elsewhere. Thankfully there are no other prisoners. Only three guards are currently working. And Dr. Hutchinson, the man currently in their custody, is the only other doctor besides Wright. However, he doesn’t have any other information as to who Caleb might also be working with as he only conferred with him.

Tim calls Smitty with their location and orders him to gather a dozen of their best volunteers including Nyla and Angela to help make arrests while Lucy calls Jackson to help with aiding the victims.

Within half an hour, they’ve arrested all the guards and released all the captives. Nyla, Angela, and Nolan volunteer to help Smitty book those under arrest. Meanwhile Tim and Lucy travel back to the hospital with Jackson to help settle his new patients and make the arrest of Caleb.

The hospital is in full emergency mode to help with the influx of patients. But it’s also made clear that the news of what happened at the facility must have reached Caleb. Fearing he might destroy any more evidence of his involvement (though they have plenty from the facility), or possibly make a dangerous stand to avoid being arrested; Tim and Lucy rush toward his office.

Finding the door locked, Tim holsters his gun and then kicks against the door to ram it open. Lucy provides cover as they enter, but they are too late. Caleb lies on the ground with no sign of movement. Tim checks his pulse and confirms he is dead. Lucy bends down near the body to pick up a nearly empty vial.

“Looks like he used some kind of fast acting poison,” she concludes.

“He wanted to take his secrets to the grave.” Tim huffs in frustration. “If he was working with someone, it’s unlikely we’ll find them now.”

“Not necessarily.” Lucy answers as she thinks about a new strategy. “The money to run that operation had to come from somewhere, right?”

“Yeah, Oscar doesn’t strike me as the type to work for free. Much less out of the goodness of his heart. If he even has one.” Tim comments on their latest prisoner. After only five minutes with the man, Tim wanted to gag him just to shut him up.

“And with money comes a paperwork trail. So we ask Angela to follow the money. That might lead us back to whomever is in charge.” Lucy concludes looking hopeful at her theory.

“Could work.” Tim considers their friend’s determination to pursue problematic accounts until the very last thread. Angela loves a mystery to the point that she would probably make a great detective if she wanted. “Call this in.” He gestures to Caleb’s body. “And then we’ll get back to the station to ask for her help.”

If there is someone else out there wrecking havoc in Storybrooke, Tim won’t stop until he finds them.

He just hopes no one else gets hurt in the process.

Especially not Lucy.

***

Late that very same night, Tamara breaks into Mayor Dyer’s office using the lock picking set she “borrowed” from Lucy. Convinced that Rosalind is the Evil Queen to Lucy’s Snow White, the teenager needs proof if she has any hope of convincing her friend. And she figures the best place to find that proof is the mayor’s office. After all, this is where Rosalind lords all her power over the town via her job. That symbolic power might translate into real magical power in some physical form.

At least that’s what Tamara hopes. It is her best bet for the moment.

Keeping the lights off, she switches on her flashlight as she sneaks around the office opening desk drawers and rifling through file cabinets. Unfortunately, she finds nothing except all the paperwork one would expect to find in an office.

She looks around the room, questioning what her next move could be when she spies a large oval mirror hanging on a wall nearby. Figuring she has nothing to lose if she tries, she stands in front of the mirror. She would laugh at herself for even considering what she is about to do, if not for the extraordinary circumstances she already finds herself in.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Tamara states clearly, “Magic Mirror on the wall, where can I find the magic tools to... prove my case to all?” She winces as she finishes her clunky rhyme.

Lucky for her though, magic mirrors apparently do not harshly judge questions put to them in rhyme. The image of herself swirls into a mist before her eyes. The swirling image then re-configures into that of a bookcase. Tamara quickly turns behind her, but she doesn’t see a bookcase. Looking around the room, she finds the bookcase in a corner. Curiously, from this angle there is no way the bookcase can be reflected in the mirror. Still uncertain of what to do next, she turns back to the mirror. Catching movement within the glass as one of the books on the shelves moves of its own accord. In the mirror, the bookcase opens up to reveal a set of stone stairs. But when Tamara looks over at the bookcase in question, it is still as it was before.

Racing over to the bookcase, she pulls down on the book the that the mirror showed her. Slowly the bookcase opens up. Her flashlight shines on the steps leading downward into the darkness below. Knowing she has no choice if she wants to find what she seeks, Tamara braces herself as she carefully follows the staircase’s destination.

The hard stone steps seem to go on forever as they twist down into the darkness. Rosalind’s office at City Hall is at the top of a three story building. And yet, Tamara is sure she has traveled more than four stories as she guides herself along the curves of the winding staircase. When she finally reaches the last step, the cold dank room resembles a dungeon more than a basement. Cobwebs shimmer across the stone walls.

Shining her flashlight to see, she nearly shrieks as a rat crosses along the floor. Reminding herself that she has come too far to turn back now, she steels herself. Continuing to move the light until it lands on an old wooden door. Walking forward to get a better look, she would swear that the structure is like something out of the Medieval Ages. Dark wood in an arched shape with black iron hinges holding it in place. Though it looks tough, it is surprisingly easy to move as she pushes it open to reveal another room.

This hidden room is lit by several candles with flames that ignite by themselves as soon as Tamara steps inside. On one table she can see a cauldron and what looks like a steampunk version of a chemistry set. On another table are several vials and bottles of what she can only presume are potions. One set of shelves is lined with various herbs and other ingredients. Another set has various books with titles such as Astrology, Black Arts, Alchemy, Witchcraft, Black Magic, Disguises, Sorcery, and Poisons.

But what Tamara finds herself drawn to is an ornately decorated book resting against a lectern in the middle of the room. Opening the book, she finds it is filled with various instructions for spellcasting and mixing potions. Flipping through spellbook she finds a section that is all the proof she needs to confirm her theory and convince Lucy about the truth of her existence.

Taking the book with her, Tamara exits the dungeons and races back up the steps to Rosalind’s office. As quietly as she can, she sneaks back outside. She only breathes a sigh of relief when she is safely back home.

Though she wants to immediately explain everything to Lucy tonight, Tamara considers the best option is to wait until tomorrow. Tonight she’ll formulate a plan on how to break the news to her friend.

And once that is done, together they can figure out how to save the rest of the town.

Chapter Text

“I’m a damsel. I’m in distress. I can handle this. Have a nice day.”
- Hercules

The next day Angela meets with Tim and Lucy at the sheriff’s station to discuss the information she has found. She lays out a stack of papers with names, dates, and numbers. A cornucopia of details that frustrates Tim to no end. “I can’t make any of this out. Just explain the basics.”

“I had to search through a ton of bank records and paperwork to track the accounts providing funds to finance that secret prison. Some of it had to be done through questionable means.” Angela informs them.

“What kind of questionable means?” Lucy asks.

“The kind I can’t tell law enforcement about.” Angela insists.

Tim and Lucy share a look, but don’t ask any further questions as Tim nods for Angela to continue.

“It was a difficult task and took me all night, but I managed to trace it all back to one person.” She pauses for effect. “Rosalind Dyer.”

This knowledge is somehow both surprising and not surprising. “You’re absolutely sure?” Tim inquires.

Angela nods confidently. “One hundred percent. Bet my life on it.”

“We have to arrest her!” Lucy exclaims adamantly.

Tim doesn’t disagree with her, but they need to make sure everything is done by the book. Especially when going after the mayor. “Hold on.” He raises his hand in a gesture to calm Lucy. “We need more proof first. Especially since Angela couldn’t find all this information through, shall we say, ethical means. We need to get records directly from her office.”

Frustrated but seeing reason with Tim’s argument, Lucy turns to Angela. “The information you did get legally, will it be enough to at least have Judge Grey sign off on a search warrant?”

Angela thinks back over her work. “It might. What I could do legally at least got to the mayor’s office. But Rosalind will try to pass the blame onto an underling if she can. That’s why I went further to make sure it led to her.”

“And if she knows her office is being investigated, she’ll destroy anything that can connect her. If she hasn’t already after yesterday’s events,” Lucy concludes dejectedly.

“Which is why we’re going to keep this investigation as much of a secret as we can until absolutely necessary.” Tim reassures her. “Can we trust the prosecutor’s office not to let anything slip?”

He doesn’t say it directly, but what he is really asking Lucy is if they can trust Chris. The truth is she doesn’t think they can. Not with a case this important. “No, we should go to Judge Grey directly if we can.”

Tim nods. It’s not exactly protocol, but special circumstances dictate special needs. “Okay, let’s look through all of this info again and gather all the legal evidence we can so we can present our case to Grey.”

As they each start to look through a stack of papers, they hear a voice speak up from the doorway. “That may not be necessary.”

“Tamara? What are you doing here?” Lucy asks as Tim also questions the young girl, “How much of that did you hear?”

“Enough to know you’re going after Rosalind.” Tamara answers Tim’s question first. “And I’m here because you need to listen to me before you attempt to take her down. It won’t be easy.”

Tim rolls his eyes. “We know that.”

“She’s evil.” Tamara continues.

“We know that too.” Angela adds sarcastically.

“No, I mean really evil.” Tamara insists. “Like ‘Good versus Evil’… evil. Evil with a capital ‘E’.” Realizing that she is not getting her point across, she lays the truth all out there for them. “She’s an evil witch who has placed a cursed on this town and all the people in it.”

Thinking her friend might be overwhelmed and going through some kind of a mental breakdown, Lucy approaches the girl carefully. “Okay...Tamara...”

“No!” Tamara backs away. “I found her secret dungeon at the bottom of City Hall. The entrance is a hidden bookcase door in her office. She’s has a whole bunch of potions and magical equipment. And I took this spellbook from it.” She holds up the spellbook so everyone can see. “Look!”

Her eyes filled with worry and concern, Lucy silently implores Angela and Tim to help her with the poor girl. Tim shrugs unsure of what to do.

However, Angela speaks up. “I believe her.” When Tim and Lucy turn their surprised expressions on her, she snaps back. “What? My abuela told me magic and curses are real. And you can’t deny that Rosalind gives off major creepy vibes.”

Tamara nods encouragingly. Glad one of them is now on her side. “Even if you don’t believe in magic, haven’t you at least considered how strange this town is? I’m the first new person who has visited here in how many years? Do you even know if anyone new has come to town? No one ever leaves. Not even for a vacation. Lucy, haven’t you ever thought about traveling the world?”

“Sure, I guess.” Lucy admits. “I mean at first I couldn’t afford it, and then I just… I felt like I was needed here.” She looks to Tim who doesn’t say anything, but his eyes drop to avoid her gaze.

“Okay, but you’ve never even wanted to go the next town. Do you even know how far away the next town is?” Tamara asks.

“Why go to another town when we have everything we need here?” Tim comments.

“Exactly!” Tamara exclaims. “What small town has everything you could possibly need in one place without any imports? How does that possibly work? And even if it could, why does no one export their goods to other places? Why does no one have the desire to leave for any reason?” She reiterates to make her point.

Tim considers this idea enough that he begins to change his mind. When Lucy sees him start to falter, she questions, “You actually believes this.”

Tim shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know if I believe in magic and curses, but she does have point about how strange it is that no one ever leaves. When was the last time you ever wanted something and couldn’t find it in town?”

Lucy is willing to admit to the strangeness. Especially when she considers how much she wanted to travel as a teenager, and yet somehow she just let that dream die as she got older. Even if it was to travel to another town. But while she agrees her step-mother could be the definition of evil, saying she is an actual witch seems a step too far.

Taking the chance that she might finally be getting through to her friend, Tamara pushes forth. “Do you know anything about fairy tales? Have you even heard the term before?”

Lucy shakes her head. That’s a new one to her. She checks in with Angela and Tim who also seem equally confused. So at least she is not alone.

“Fairy tales are very popular stories told to young kids. At least they are where I come from. Snow White, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood. These are just a few of the more well known characters.” Tamara takes a moment to prepare as she knows what she has to say next is the most difficult part to believe in this whole unbelievable scenario. “I have reason to suspect you guys and everyone else in town are the fairy tale characters known to my world.”

If Tamara thinks she had confused her friends before, that is nothing compared to the bomb she just dropped on them. So she barrels through. “Angela, I believe you are Cinderella. The hardworking woman who goes unappreciated and taken advantage of by her family until she meets her prince.”

When Angela thinks about it, that does describe her life up until a few weeks ago.

Tamara continues, “And Lucy, I think this whole curse revolves around you. It’s your story. Snow White and the Evil Queen. The queen who is so jealous of Snow White’s beauty that she sets out to kill her. I think Rosalind tried, and when she couldn’t do that, she created this curse to trap you.”

Knowing this information would not be enough to convince her friends of the truth, Tamara looked through the magic spells last night to prepare a simple incantation. Though surprised her own efforts worked any at all, she figured there must be some residual magic in the town that aided her. Or perhaps deep down she had the magic all along. She practiced all night until she was able to perform the spell consistently. “Magic is real, and I will show you.”

But now with the need to prove herself, she fears she might fail. Still she has to try. Finding an object to cast her spell on, she chooses a broom standing upright in the corner of the room. She concentrates as she says the spell out loud while waving her hands at the object. At first nothing happens. Angela appears disappointed while Tim looks as though he expected nothing less. But Lucy is the one who looks at her with pity.

More determined than ever, Tamara attempts the spell again. This time putting all her hope on moving the broom. This time when she waves her hands, the broom begins to twitch. As she focuses more, the broom begins to move forward on its own. The bristles separating into almost feet like structures as it dances around the room to everyone’s amazement.

Angela, Tim and even Lucy are stunned into silence. Satisfied that she has made her point, Tamara says a few more magic words and the broom instantly falls to the ground. Tim immediately picks it up to inspect it for strings or some other mechanism to cause it to move on its own. Finding none, he looks at Tamara in shock. “Okay, I’m starting to believe you more now.”

“You got to show me how you did that.” Angela gleefully laughs as everyone looks at her inquisitively. “What?! With a spell like that, I’d never have to lift a finger to clean again.”

Now having everyone on her side, Tamara steps forward and opens the spell book to show them the pages. “See this book also shows Snow White’s story. That’s you.” She points to a portrait of Lucy in the book as the image of Snow White. “That’s Rosalind as the Evil Queen.” She points to the next image. She hesitates to add the next part as she looks at Tim. “And that is an image of your prince, Lucy.”

Everyone looks at the picture of the prince, yet no one says anything until Tim states with forced blank emotion, “That’s Chris.” He nods as his voice strains. “Makes sense.” He smiles tightly but there is no light in his eyes.

Angela eyes Tim with sympathy, but Lucy remains quiet. Refusing to meet Tim’s eyes. After a few tense moments, Lucy finally speaks up. “Let’s say I believe you. If this is town is cursed, then how do we break it?” She might still have trouble believing the idea of being a famous literary character. Even with the proof staring her literally in the face. But if everyone in town is in danger, she won’t risk their safety due to her stubbornness.

“Well, in the story Snow White eats a poisoned apple, and everyone thinks she is dead until the prince comes along and revives her with a kiss.” Tamara watches Tim carefully as he reacts to this news with expected annoyance.

“That’s all it takes? I have to kiss Chris to break the spell,” Lucy asks uncertainly. “But I’ve kissed Chris plenty of times, and not once has it ever broken any spell that I know of.”

Tim winces at the mention of Lucy kissing Chris, but it’s Angela who quips, “No surprise Chris can’t deliver on a world changing kiss.”

“The kiss has to be true love’s kiss. Or love’s first kiss if you are going by the Disney version.” At the mention of Disney, the three adults look even more confused so Tamara moves passed this. “Doesn’t matter, the point is if you love Chris and you kiss him, then that should break the curse.” She implores the importance of love. “You’re lucky because older versions of the story have the prince’s servants carrying Snow White’s corpse around wherever he goes until the piece of apple falls out of her mouth and that’s what wakes her up. Which is totally creepy.”

The pressure of loving Chris to save everyone… Lucy is not sure if she can. She wants to help, but she doesn’t have those strong feelings for her boyfriend. And she doesn’t believe she ever will. Not even with the lives of everyone she knows on the line.

If only Tim had been her prince…

She fully believes what Tamara is saying about her being Snow White now because she knows she must be cursed if Tim is not her true love.

Pushing her feelings aside, Lucy knows she has to do what is necessary. She took a solemn oath to protect this town. But if it all relies on her, then she wants a back up plan in case she can’t fulfill her duty. “Is there some other way to break this curse? In case the kiss doesn’t work.”

“I don’t know for sure, but I found this potion for restoring memories when I was flipping through the book last night.” Tamara turns to the appropriate page. “Maybe if you take this, it will provide a clue that can help. At the very least, you’ll know the full truth about your past.”

“Can’t we make the potion for everyone in town?” Angela asks as she looks over the ingredients.

“Even if we could find enough ingredients, how would we convince everyone to take it?” Tamara looks them over. “It’s was hard enough just to convince the three of you.”

“We don’t have to tell them what it’s for.” Angela says.

Lucy shakes her head. “Then we wouldn’t be any better than Rosalind if we tricked them.” Angela’s reaction to that argument suggest she thinks that’s debatable, but she doesn’t argue further.

With renewed determination, Lucy decides, “I’ll take the potion. If it works, maybe I will figure out how to break the curse. And if not, then we’ll work on a strategy to convince everyone else to take the potion as well. Whatever happens, we can’t keep living this way. So let’s get all the ingredients together.”

For the first time in a while, Tim speaks up. “I’m taking the potion too.” Lucy starts to object, but he stops her. “It’s better if we have two people testing it. Two sets of memories.” Tim argues before finally admitting his worry. “Besides there is no way I’m letting you take something untested alone.”

Sensing Tim’s sincerity in the deep emotions crossing his face, Lucy smiles softly as she nods in acquiesce.

With a plan in place and mustering all the courage she can, Lucy looks at her companions. “Let’s do this.”

***

The group decides the best place to prepare the memory potion is in Nyla’s kitchen even though no one is allowed to use it except her. However, Nyla is also the best person with knowledge of where to find all the necessary ingredients for the concoction. Which means they have to convince her about the curse. Tamara takes the lead in discussing Nyla’s origins in The Frog Prince fairy tale, and her more notable connections to a variation of the story with The Princess and the Frog. While the restaurateur knows Angela is always on the level with her, strangely Tim is the one who makes her believe what her friends are saying. If someone as stoic and serious as Tim can believe in something so outlandish, then there must be at least a kernel of truth to it.

She gets on board with the plan. Possibly because Nyla is as eager to take down Rosalind as the rest of them. Demanding that she’ll be the one to brew the potion with Tamara’s assistance.

When the magic potion is finished, Angela stands over the pot to catch a whiff. The smell isn’t exactly enticing as she wiggles her nose in disgust. “Are you sure you made it right?”

Offended, Nyla passionately asserts, “I may not have experience with magic, but I’ve never failed with a recipe.”

“We followed all the instructions to the letter,” Tamara adds.

Nyla nods. “I didn’t substitute any of the ingredients either. I wasn’t going to take a risk with Lucy’s life.”

“What about my life?” Tim asks, insulted that he wasn’t included.

“Tim too.” Nyla shrugs without much fanfare which earns her a harsh glare from him. She only responds with a teasing laugh. They both know she doesn’t want to harm him either.

Tim rolls his eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”

Nyla pours the mixture into two mugs and hands Tim and Lucy each one.

Holding his mug level with Lucy, he asks her, “Ready?”

Now that this is all really happening, Lucy is not sure if she is ready to learn about her old life. Taking this elixir means that everything will change for her. Her memories from this life will come into question. She won’t know what is real and what was fabricated to fit the curse. She doubts her friendships will change with any new knowledge, but is Jackson still the one who gave her a home when she was kicked out? Are Nyla and Angela still the same people she hung out with on a regular basis in this past she can’t remember? Is Tim the man who refused to bow to Rosalind’s demands to fire her from the job she loves?

Honestly, Tim is the one who concerns her the most. Who was he to her in her old life? And who will he be to her now when their memories return?

But this is more than just about her. This is about all the townsfolk too. They can’t remain under the oppressive thumb of Rosalind forever. She knows she has to get her memories back no matter what. She will protect this town whatever the cost.

Looking at Tim as he waits for her response; his eyes so full of concern for her, and dare she hope… love?

With this, Lucy makes a decision for herself.

A vow.

After she does what it takes to break the curse, she will live her life the way she wants from that moment on. She won’t let her past define her.

She will write her own story.

So she raises her mug to meets Tim’s. “To the end of the world,” she says as she puts on a brave face.

Tim smiles sadly. “Whatever that may be.”

They clink their mugs together and then both quickly down the tonic in order to not linger on the smell or taste.

At first, Lucy feels nothing other than the horrible after taste. She is about to question the process herself when suddenly an image appears in her mind. From her point of view, she is sitting next to a well. Singing to a bird which is patiently sitting on her hand.

As soon as the memory finishes, another one appears: Crying over the death of her father. Her step-mother showing no emotion at his funeral.

Her empty mug crashes to the ground and breaks as more memories flood her brain. Bombarding her with new information and overwhelming her. So many that she can’t keep up with them. Quick flashes with no context. Moving too fast for her to barely acknowledge them, let alone understand them. Her head throbs with an aching pain. She feels dizzy and has the strong urge to vomit. Like the worst migraine she has ever experienced.

She can’t keep herself upright. Losing her balance as she falters. She barely hears the muffled and frantic cries of her friends over the rushing of blood pounding in her ears. As she falls to the ground, the last thing Lucy is aware of is Tim’s arms catching her before she blacks out completely.

***

Lucy awakens to the sound of beeping. With blurry vision as her eyes adjust to the light, she realizes she is lying in a hospital bed. The beeping that invaded her sleep is from a heart monitor. Jackson is standing next to it as he checks her vitals. “Good, you’re awake. You know the next time you want to drink a strange potion, you should really do so under a doctor’s supervision.” He half jokingly teases.

On the other side of her bed sits Tamara who visibly relaxes now that she knows Lucy will be okay.

Lucy winces as her body is still weary. “They told you?” she questions Jackson.

“Yeah, it’s a little hard to believe, but when your best friend is lying unconscious in the middle of your ER, you’ll accept anything if you think it will help her.” He smiles softly as his own relief shines through.

With a sudden jolt of worry, Lucy asks. “What about Tim? He took the potion too.”

“Tim is fine. He wasn’t affected like you.” Tamara quickly reassures her.

“My theory is that because this curse revolves around you, you had a greater amount of memories to suppress. So therefore you were more affected when they came back.” At Lucy’s questioning look, Jackson adds. “Like I said; you were unconscious, and so I considered all the possibilities as to why. This one made the most sense.”

“Okay, that seems reasonable,” Lucy admits. “Where is everyone else?” Where is Tim? If he is okay, then why isn’t he here with her?

Tamara and Jackson share a look of concern. Neither wanting to speak first which only frustrates Lucy more. “Guys?! Answer me!”

Jackson sighs as he finally states, “Angela and Nyla are just down the hall. They’re wanted to form a basic plan of attack on Rosalind while they waited for you to wake up.”

“And Tim?” Lucy stares back and forth as she waits for Jackson and Tamara to answer her.

Tamara bites her lip as she reluctantly speaks. “He brought you right to the hospital. Carried you inside himself. And he waited the entire time while Jackson did his examination.”

“I had to practically force him away from you. He was never more than a couple of feet away.” Jackson adds.

“But when we learned that you would be okay and just needed time to rest, that’s when Tim walked away. He didn’t say anything to anyone. He just left. Not even Angela could stop him. He won’t answer his phone. We don’t know where he is.” Tamara answers sadly. “At first, I couldn’t understand why he would abandon you, but then I read through the spellbook again.” Her gaze is sorrowful as she picks up the book from where it is lying on top of the chair next to her. “I’m so sorry, Lucy. Since I already know the story, I didn’t bother reading the rest of it once I confirmed that you are Snow White.”

Opening the tome to a page that is bookmarked, Tamara forlornly turns it to show her friend. But as a devastating memory comes back to Lucy in that exact moment, she doesn’t need to look at the picture of Tim to confirm what she already knows.

The harsh truth of the part the man she loves played in her tale. The cruel irony that not only is he not her prince; but even now with their memories returned, Rosalind has still managed to win.

Because Tim is none other than the Evil Queen’s faithful Huntsman whom she ordered to kill Lucy.

Chapter Text

“Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it.”
-The Lion King

Not intent on wallowing because Lucy knows there is important work to be done, she jumps out of the hospital bed. Well, she intends to jump out of bed but she wobbles a bit when she makes the landing. But she doesn’t let it deter her. Much to the protest of both Jackson and Tamara. Both insist she should continue resting.

“I’ve rested enough!” Lucy yells at them. Perhaps a bit harsher than necessary so she exhales to calm herself. “It’s only a matter of time before Rosalind realizes that I remember everything. We need to form a plan to stop her before it’s too late. And I need...” She pauses so she doesn’t overwhelm herself with tears of frustration. “I need to find Tim.”

Either her friends recognize her relentless determination or they sense the desperation in voice because they cease protesting. Knowing that when Lucy has a goal, nothing will stop her.

After quickly dressing and more fussing over her from Jackson, she meets up with Angela and Nyla in his office. Not wanting to waste time, she asks “What do you have for a plan so far?”

“Are you okay?” “Should you be up?” Angela and Nyla ask Lucy at the same time.

She waves a hand to dismiss their questioning. “I’m fine. We need to focus on stopping Rosalind’s curse. So what do you have?”

Angela and Nyla share a look between them until Nyla speaks, “She’s a witch so it’s not like a normal weapon could stop her. Not for long anyway.”

“We need to sneak into her secret lair. Find any magical potion or wand or whatever that could stop her. Or at least hold her back until you find a way to break the curse.” Angela eyes Lucy. “Do you know how to break it?”

“I’m not sure.” Lucy admits reluctantly. “But I have a thought about what could break it. At least I hope it’s the key to everything.”

“You want to share with the rest of the class?” Angela asks.

Lucy shakes her head. “Not yet. Not if I don’t know if it will work.” What she says next stops anyone from questioning her further. “Just know I need to find Tim.”

Nyla shrugs. “Well, whatever it is might be the best we got. Angela and I could probably buy you some time, but first we need to get into Rosalind’s office. And for that we’ll need a distraction.”

“I know what to do!” Tamara speaks up. “I’ll stand outside her office building and call her out to the street. She has been trying to get rid of me since I came to town. I think because she knows the curse started to weaken the moment I crossed over the city limits. She’ll come after to me.” The teenager speaks with confidence.

“You sure about that?” Nyla asks.

“She’ll come when she sees I have this.” Tamara holds up the spellbook in her possession.

“It’s too risky. I don’t want you confronting Rosalind alone,” Lucy protests.

“It’s the only way to get her out the office, and to give you enough time to find Tim.” Tamara insists. “Besides I won’t be alone. I have the book.” She flips through the pages as she reassures everyone. “I’ll find something in here to protect me until Angela and Nyla can back me up.”

Not entirely comfortable with the plan, but knowing they have no other choice, Lucy agrees. “Okay. Only do what you need to do to distract Rosalind and protect yourself. No going on the full offense until Angela and Nyla are with you. Got it?”

Tamara nods. “Understood.”

“Tim hasn’t spoken to anyone since he left, and we have no idea where he went.” Angela states. “How are you going to find him?”

“I have an idea of where he might be.” Lucy hopes she is right, and that she is not too late.

The four women finalize the details of their plan and then head off in different directions. But Tamara stops Lucy before she can leave. “Lucy, what are you going to do when you find Tim?”

Several thoughts cross her mind as to what she wants to do with Tim once she finds him. But she finally settles on the most important one of all for now. “I’m going to talk to him.”

“Do you think that will work?”

“I don’t know.” She answers honestly. But with renewed determination, she asserts “But I’m going to make damn sure that idiot hears what I have to say.”

***

Nyla and Angela sneak into City Hall. After making their way up to floor of the mayor’s office, they hide in the bathroom until they get the signal from Tamara.

Lucy is parked out on the street in a car she borrowed from Jackson so that Rosalind doesn’t recognize her car or one of the sheriff’s department issued vehicles. She won’t leave until she is sure that Tamara can handle herself.

The younger woman in question now stands in the middle of the town square with a magical spellbook in one hand and a bullhorn in the other. Standing directly in front of City Hall, Tamara shouts into the horn. “Mayor Rosalind Dyer or should I say The Evil Queen? I’ve got your spellbook, and if you want it back, you are going to come out here and face me!”

Perhaps luck is on their side because Rosalind doesn’t immediately teleport out to where Tamara is waiting. Admittedly, the teenager feared that might happen. But apparently Rosalind doesn’t want to cause a stir. Probably hoping she can convince everyone in town that Tamara is crazy and needs to be locked up in a mental institution for her own good.

As such, the mayor actually takes the time to leave her office, walk out of City Hall and cross the street to meet with Tamara. Giving Angela and Nyla the time to enter her office and find the hidden passage to the dungeon where Tamara said it would be.

Meanwhile Lucy ducks out of sight as Rosalind makes her way to the town square. Maintaining a watchful eye on the safety of her charge.

Now only a few feet away from Tamara, the wicked older woman crosses her arms as stares down the meddling teenager. “Miss Colins, I fear you have an overactive imagination. This kind of behavior is not healthy for a young woman. Your guardian, Ms. Chen, is failing to give you a proper upbringing. I’m afraid I’ll have to speak with Judge Grey about putting you under someone else’s supervision.”

“Is that so?” Tamara asks with a raised eyebrow before rebutting. “Perhaps Judge Grey will think differently when I turn his robe into a top hat and his gavel into an umbrella.” Pretending to think it over, she says, “No, I think to prove my case, I’ll need to go bigger.”

With that Tamara speaks out loud the spell she had prepared for this moment. As soon as the ancient Latin words leave her mouth, a blue colorful light fills the air as it casts over all the park benches in the square. Within seconds the benches have turned from inanimate wooden seats to live horses running amok. Every last bench is now a neighing stallion. Including some that people had been sitting on moments before.

Rosalind watches the chaos surrounding them as she turns her evil eye on the young girl who continues to cause her so much trouble.

“Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo!” Tamara smirks with glee. Not caring that she is mixing Disney fairies and films together.

Now filled with anger and with no reason to hold back, Rosalind releases a spell on Tamara that if not meant to kill, than certainly meant to cause great harm. However, to her surprise the spell bounces off the teen and causes no harm to any other innocent person. Instead, the spell backfires onto Rosalind. It is only her great power that stops it from doing any damage to her.

Shocked that the protection spell she cast over herself actually worked, Tamara is more grateful than ever at Lucy’s insistence she be well prepared before she confronted a powerfully wicked witch.

However, Tamara can’t be impressed for too long as Rosalind attempts another attack. This one might have worked if not for Angela running up behind her. In her hand, she holds a magic wand that shoots sparks which manage to stun the queen.

At this point with all the horse running around and magic flying about, the townspeople have all hidden for cover so only the four women are left in the square as they battle. Nyla throws a magic potion bottle like it’s a Molotov cocktail right at Rosalind’s feet.

Purple and green magical sparks shoot out as colorful smoke fills the air. Temporarily blinding and distracting Rosalind so that Angela, Nyla, and Tamara can run for safety.

The three ladies book it to Nyla’s restaurant where several citizens have already congregated to keep out of harm’s way. Tamara quickly flips through the book. Finding a protection spell to ward over the building. She casts it while Nyla and Angela block the entrance with whatever they can find. Then they gather together the magical supplies they stole to figure out what more can be done to hold off Rosalind and give Lucy a chance.

Once Lucy knows her friends will be able to withstand the fight, she starts her car and sets off to find Tim.

In her heart, she knows that he is the only one who can help her finally lift the curse off this town and save everyone.

She only hopes Tim is willing.

***

Turns out that Lucy is correct in that the place she finds Tim would be the first place she looks. However, she doubts the reason is because this is the same mountain on which they regularly take hikes with Kojo.

No, she knows that rather it is because this is the same mountain where Tim led her on that fateful day Rosalind ordered him to kill her.

That day that feels like a lifetime ago even though her memories have only recently returned.

That pivotal day in another life.

At the peak where they often stop to rest, she finds Tim looking out over edge of the cliff face. This place where Kojo makes a mess lapping at his water bowl, where Tim begrudgingly smiles as Lucy takes pictures, where they share some of their most meaningful discussions also holds the memory of one of Lucy’s worst days.

And Tim’s.

She doesn’t make much noise as she walks up behind him. Not wanting to startle him.

But of course Tim hears her anyway.

It’s in his nature to be aware of the slightest sound of movement.

It’s who he is after all.

A born hunter.

Neither says anything for while. For once, Lucy wants Tim to take the lead. If they have any hope of being honest with each other, then Tim has to be the one to open himself up to her.

They settle into the quiet. Until out of nowhere Tim speaks. “This is the spot.” He mentions unnecessarily. She knows what he means. “The spot where my life changed.”

“My life too.” She notes which causes him to nod in silent agreement.

A myriad of devastating emotions cross his face. “I was always The Queen’s most loyal huntsman. Brought her any game she desired. Killed...” He pauses as the feelings of remorse for his actions washes over him. “Killed any enemy she wanted dead. I felt it was all a part of my duty to protect the kingdom. I never questioned her. Not once.” He turns to Lucy to meet her eyes. “Not until that day. Because of you.”

The heartache in his eyes, so full of sadness and guilt, makes Lucy long to take him in her arms. Only the fear that Tim will back away from her if she gets too close is what stops her.

“I didn’t want...” He pauses as it clearly pains him to talk about the past. “I didn’t want to hurt you. Much less...” He can’t even finish the thought. “I’m so sorry, Lucy. I tried… I tried to fool her. But she must have realized I gave her a boar’s heart instead of yours and then…” He waves his arm out to gesture at the town below. “And then she cursed you. Cursed all of us because I failed to protect you.” He lowers his head in shame.

“No!” At this declaration, Lucy does step forward. “No, Tim, you did nothing wrong. You’re not to blame for this curse anymore than I am for being the source of her jealousy. This is all on Rosalind.”

Tim doesn’t believe what she says. He still refuses to meet her eyes, so she gently grabs him as she turns his face to make him look at her. “You protected me, Tim. You have always protected me. From that day when you refused to follow her order, and every day since. It’s because of you that I am alive. I have a career I love. You taught me everything I know about this job, and you even made sure I kept it. You have my back every day. I’m so incredibly lucky to have you in my life, and I wouldn’t wish for a different life with anyone else.”

She wraps her arms around Tim, and his body visibly relaxes in her embrace as their foreheads touch. “I don’t want a life with anyone else either.” He whispers to her. “You are the best part of my life, Lucy.”

They stare deeply into each other’s eyes as they wrap themselves tighter around each other. As Tim bends his head down, Lucy lifts herself up so their lips meet in a gentle touch. After that initial tender caress, a fire is lit between them. Their hunger for each other increases with each bit of pressure. Desire mixing with desperation to relish more of each other. To get as close as two people can possibly be in this moment. Neither knowing that such rapture could come from a first kiss.

Both are so incredibly engaged in one another that they don’t notice the bright rainbow spectrum of light emanating from within them at the moment that they kiss. Sweeping across the entirety of the town like a forceful gust of wind. Powerful magic blanketing over everyone as The Evil Queen’s curse breaks once and for all.

***

At this exact moment; just as Angela, Nyla, Tamara and some of the other townsfolk are making a valiant effort in the fight against Rosalind, the enchantment keeping everyone locked into their false memories shatters.

Everyone in town is hit with a flood of knowledge as to who they truly are. However, before anyone has time to react, they hear a cry of painful agony from Rosalind.

They watch in abject horror and macabre fascination as the sorcery which controlled the curse now surrounds and overpowers their former mayor. Strangling her and ripping through her until her whole body turns to ash and dust which disintegrates into small particles of barely anything. What remains of the once Evil Queen is carried off with the wind.

Rosalind had bartered her soul in the witchcraft of the curse, and all magic comes with a price. Today her debt has finally been paid.

For Lucy and Tim had not only shared their first kiss, but also the kiss of true love. The only magic stronger than any curse.

***

Once Tim and Lucy have broken away from their first series of kisses, they realize the lightness in their souls is not just from being in love and being together, but also from the freedom of the hex that had been weighing them down without their knowledge. After some time – they aren’t sure how much due to getting lost in each other – they eventually leave their secluded bubble in the mountains to return to town. Though no less enamored and enthralled with one another. When they enter Nyla’s restaurant, they find their friends and fellow citizens still celebrating Rosalind’s demise and their own joyful reunions with loved ones.

Tamara eagerly greets the new couple by stating the obvious. “You broke the curse! How did you accomplish it?”

Nyla and Angela, along with the others, had been curious as to Lucy’s plan and therefore impatiently waiting for details once the spell had been lifted. Lucy blushes as she hides her smiling face in Tim’s chest, but he has no qualms about holding her close in front of everyone. Grinning like a Cheshire Cat at the memory of their kiss. And all the ones after.

Lucy lifts her head and replies, “Let’s just say we took a page out of Rosalind’s spellbook.”

Tamara smiles in return having correctly inferred her roommate’s meaning. “I knew it! I knew true love’s kiss would work.” She leads them over to the table with their companions. “Thank all the fairies in the forest that you didn’t need to kiss Chris!”

As if just speaking his name summons him, Chris enters the diner shortly thereafter. His eyes search and land on Lucy. Rushing over to her as he pays no mind to that fact that hers and Tim’s arms are still wrapped around each other. Their already irresistible need to invade the other’s personal space increasing tenfold since the moment their lips first touched.

“Lucy! I’m so glad I found you. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Chris exclaims.

Tim rolls his eyes as he mutters. “Obviously not everywhere.” Chris hadn’t found them on the mountain pass. To be fair, they had both been too distracted to notice anyone else. But Tim is fairly certain that if Chris had witnessed their intense make out session, then he probably wouldn’t be here now. Unless he is just that clueless.

However, Chris doesn’t respond to Tim’s remark. He reaches for Lucy’s hand. Takes hold of it without permission which annoys Lucy and angers Tim. “I’m your prince.” He tells her as if she isn’t aware of that knowledge. “Isn’t that great?! Even with our memories erased, we still found each other. We are meant to be!”

Lucy pulls her hand from Chris’ grasp. Backing away from him as she moves closer to Tim’s body. Knowing he is standing steady beside her. Always ready to have her back physically and emotionally. “Chris...um” She stumbles for the right words to let him down gently. Until awkwardly settling on “I need you to give me your storybook.”

“Wait. What?” Chris asks confused. “Are you breaking up with me?” Lucy nods trying to convey sympathy though she feels no regret for her actions. “But I’m your prince!” he insists.

“I know, but I don’t want a prince.” She turns to Tim as he tucks her into his side. Gracing her true love with a radiant smile, “All I need is a good man with a kind heart.” She puts her hand over Tim’s heart as he covers her hand with his own. Sharing an identical loving smile as he acknowledges that his heart belongs to her. It always had.

For on that day long ago when Tim refused to cut out Lucy’s heart and surrender it to Rosalind, the two friends had unknowingly begun a journey where Tim would be honored with Lucy’s heart for himself.

Chris continues to sputter in disbelief as the two soulmates ignore him. Leaving him to stand alone as he argues indignantly. “I’m a prince,” he repeats in disbelief.

“Oh, give it up.” Tamara admonishes him. “You’re a fairy tale stock character. You would be the same in literally any princess’s story. So go find another princess.” She instructs him. “I’ve heard from Jackson that Rachel has woken up from her coma. Maybe she will turn out to be your true love.”

Chris considers this idea thoughtfully before he walks dejectedly out of the diner. One last pitiful look at Lucy. Though he does head in the direction of the hospital.

“Was that really fair to Rachel?” Tim asks as Tamara sits down at the table with all their friends.

Tamara shrugs. “The worst he can do is be so boring that he puts her back in the coma.”

Tim laughs as Lucy chides both of them for being mean. Though she doesn’t do a very good job because she can’t contain her own soft giggle at the joke. Giving up on chastising them further, she instead makes a mental note to visit with Rachel the next day.

After having their fun at Chris’s expense, Tamara asks Lucy, “So I guess this means I shouldn’t expect you back at the apartment tonight.”

Lucy beams as she leans into Tim’s side. “Probably not.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Tim agrees with a smoldering look which causes Lucy to blush again. Which in turn makes Tim smirk even more.

“Soon I’ll be living on my own again when you two decide to get married and start making babies,” Tamara concludes. She is happy for them, but she is also going to miss being roommates with Lucy.

“That is still a long ways off.” Lucy counters reassuringly.

“Though hopefully not too far long.” Tim responds. Lucy meets his eyes again, and their staring turns into adoring smiles as they both consider the certainty of their future.

“No matter when that happens,” Lucy readjusts her previous statement, “you will always be family. You have a home here, Tamara. Never forget that.”

Too overwhelmed to speak, Tamara simply nods as joyful tears fill her eyes. Having a stable home is the one wish her heart deeply desired. Somehow the magic of this town must have known her secret yearning to be loved and granted her request. Until she came here, she never would have believed in fairy tales, but as it turns out they are real.

With the curse broken, now Tamara and everyone could leave this town if they were so inclined. But as she watches all the people she has come to love, she wonders why would she ever want to leave Storybrooke.

A place full of imagination, celebration, and enchantment. Where wishing upon a star really does make dreams come true.

Tamara has at long last found her family.

And they all lived happily ever after.