Title: Saving Time

Author: JoshuAB

Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time, and all associated characters, are owned by ABC, and by proxy, Disney. I am not a part of the Disney family, so I have no ownership of anything really. Spoilers for seasons one thru present for the show. Any and all crossovers are likewise not making me any money, so don't sue me even if I don't itemize every single crossover, whether character, event, setting, or plot device. And while this is an 'Infinite Loop' Fanfic, it no longer has any direct association with the SpaceBattle Forum's Infinite Loop Project. Please Enjoy!

Summary: Infinite Loop Fic Emma Swan is the Savior, and apparently the gods decided she didn't do her job right, so they're giving her as many chances to get it right as they want. Except, somebody forgot to set the end parameters before running the program...

(EDIT for Line-Breaks done on 5/28/18)

First Season:

Emma Swan's eyes snapped open as she came awake in the jail cell.

Sitting up, and ignoring Grumpy's-sorry, Leroy's whistling, she took stock of everything. It was like the third or fourth time she'd been through this whole thing, and quite frankly she was just glad that it started where and when it did. It gave her a headache most times she tried to imagine or remember every little thing that she could about everything that happened and which lead to Henry bringing her to Storybrooke the first time. Hell, other than some vague notion of Regina feeding her a load of crap (and some pretty good apple cider), she didn't even remember what her and Regina's first words to each other were. Besides, everything that followed for the next ten or twelve months kind of overshadowed whatever first impressions they made on each other.

Besides, the Savior mused as she worked out the kinks in her back, she was about to make a whole new set of 'first impressions'.

She wasn't sure who, what, or particularly why this was going on, but after three or four times, she felt old hat at it really and had no intention of taking pretty much anything seriously anymore. Not unless she was forced to, that is.

Whatever 'this' was, she chose to identify it as a big ass time loop. Same start point; her first 'day' in Storybrooke, but the end point was whenever she finally died. First time it happened, she'd been worrying herself sick about some 'savior vision' of her death, fighting a hooded figure with a magic sword while running around trying to stop the Evil Queen. And then, well, she'd died, been killed… and woke up in the jail cell, just like she was doing now. Time after that, she'd reset after Regina killed herself to stop the Evil Queen, even after Emma had won her 'duel with destiny' (the person under the hood seemed to change each time, the only thing certain was the hood, the sword, and the fight). Last couple times, either Henry or one of her parents had died.

Way she figured it, the loop only reset upon the irreversible death of a member of her family, and… apparently Regina counted as family, but Hook and others did not. Thankfully, despite being Henry's biological grandfather, Rumplestiltskin did not count as family. At least not insofar as these time loops were concerned.

What was really awesome, though? In spite of the dangers and threats in their lives as part of the 'Charming clan', they were all good enough to survive on their own with hardly any help from her. Y'know, until the Evil Queen was separated from Regina that is. She really needed to stop that this time.

Leroy, Marco and Graham (oh yeah, something else to nip in the bud) all said what they always say in this scene, and Emma replied with her standard responses. Until Regina came in, panicked over Henry's disappearance that is. At that point, she'd fully embraced the whole 'Screw It!' mentality in regards to future causality. If the future were worth preserving, she wouldn't be repeating the past to change it.

"Graham?" Regina called out as she rushed into the room. "Henry's run away again, we have to…" She stopped upon seeing Emma in the jail cell. "What is she doing here? Do you know where he is?"

"Lady," Emma repeated what she'd said before, with some variations, "I haven't seen him since I dropped him at your house, and just between us girls and the bars, I'm more than a little sure my alibi will hold up in court."

Grimacing, Regina replied, "Yeah, well, he wasn't in his room this morning."

Here's where Emma started to have fun with everything.

"Did you check under his bed? In the closet? Oh! In the attic! Used to love hiding in the attic!" Emma said with a grin.

"Did you check in the car?"

"Did you check with his teachers?"

"Did you check the docks? He might be boarding a boat!"

"Did you check the bus station? Train station? Set up roadblocks? He's already proved that he is a flight risk. Calling in the FBI, National Guard, and State Troopers wouldn't be overkill for a known fugitive."

"Did you try his friends?"

Fidgeting, Regina shrugged as she answered, "He doesn't really have any. Kind of a loner."

"Everybody has friends," Emma pointed out. "You just have to know who to ask and how to ask them. How about enemies? Sometimes your enemy is actually your best friend in disguise. Or something like that. If you need help shaking them down, I'm great at interrogations. This one time, at band camp…"

"Did you try his girlfriend?"

Fidgeting, Regina shook her head as she answered, "He doesn't have one. And really, he's too young for that sort of thing!"

"Oh come on," Emma cajoled her. "Everyone has a girlfriend, or two. Hell, even I have a girlfriend." She winked salaciously at the black-haired mayor.

"Graham?" Regina called out as she rushed into the room. "Henry's run away again, we have to…" She stopped upon seeing Emma in the jail cell. "What is she doing here? Do you know where he is?"

"Babe, I haven't seen him since I dropped him off at home, what?" Emma said as she glanced at the wall clock, "Five hours ago? Geez, you really don't know how to hold onto the kid, do you? And, he ain't here, as you can see, so I don't got him. Graham, d'ya think Leroy maybe had him? Or the janitor, Marco? Maybe he's with his shrink?"

Scowling, it was clear the adoptive mother was about to go all 'Evil Queen' on her, so she hastily spoke. "What makes you think that he didn't just get up early and go to school already, or whatever?"

Grimacing, Regina replied, "Yeah, well, he wasn't in his room this morning."

"Obviously," Emma interrupted. "Doesn't mean he 'ran away'!" She even did the air-quotes thing.

"We have a strict routine, if you must know, Ms. Swan, and the fact remains that I don't know where my son is, so I need help finding him!"

"And you go to the sheriff for that?" she asked slowly, as though trying to make a point.

"Sheriff Hubbard is excellent at his job," Regina recited in that tone she gave when fully immersed in her 'role' as Mayor, meaning that she didn't believe a word she was saying but it was something the 'Mayor' believed and had to say.

"Not the point, but sure, let's go with that," Emma giggled. "The sole person responsible for the safety and wellbeing of all three-thousand, four-hundred, and twenty-five citizens of a one hundred square mile township is so exceedingly excellent at his job that rather than assign one of his," she paused and made an over exaggerated motion of counting the desks in the office area, "one, two, three, four deputies, he'll drop everything at your say so to go and track down a ten-year-old boy," she finished in a deadpan with a flat stare.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Regina practically roared at her, coming right up to the bars, visibly snarling.

Emma then got right up in the black-haired woman's face, pushing up against the bars to get as close to the unnerved and enraged Mayor as she could. "Now that, is my point. And also something that you should've asked last night. I'm a bounty hunter. Finding people is what I do. Do you really think that Henry found me because of a google search or something? Finding, is kind of in my blood, you could say. You want Henry found, let me out, all charges dropped, and he'll be back home within the hour. Or."

"Or what?" the Evil Queen growled from beneath the facade.

Emma rested her chin on the bars and gave her the best 'innocent eyes' Emma had ever done. She'd practiced throughout several loops by now and had it down so well it may as well be yet another super power next to her lie-detector thing.

"Or not," she said in a tone so angelic that butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

Regina scowled and ordered Emma released.

For the rest of that loop, anytime Emma wanted something from Regina and/or the Evil Queen, she'd just give her the 'angel eyes' routine and she caved almost instantly.

"As we build our birdhouses, remember," teacher Mary Margaret said to her class, "What you're making is a home. Not a cage. A bird is free, and will do what it will. This is for them, not us. They're loyal creatures," she walks over to the window to release the bird so it could fly out to the branch of a nearby tree. "If you love them and they love you, they will always find you."

The bell rung, and as with all young students everywhere, the kids all raced to pack up and leave as quickly as they could. "We'll pick this up after recess. No running!" she called after them.

One of the students turned about and came up to her teacher and handed her a pear. Emma couldn't help smirking at the fruit choice. Where every other teacher in America would expect an apple, Snow White insisted on pears.

"Why thank you!" she said as the student hurried off, just as Regina enters the room. "Ms. Mills, what are you doing here?"

"Where is my son?" Regina demanded.

"Henry?" Mary Margaret was surprised. "I assumed he was home with you."

"You think I'd be here if he was?" she gestured at Emma. "Did you give him your credit card so he can find her?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" the pixie-cut black haired teacher asked, confused.

"I'm Regina's Baby Mama," Emma grinned mischievously.

"I'm the other mother."

"I'm your daughter, whom you sent into a magic cupboard as a child so I could grow up all alone and one day find you and break the Evil Queen's curse."

"I'm the Savior. RESPECT Bee-yotch!" The blonde slapped her chest and shot everybody in the room peace signs.

"Hi, I'm Emma Swan, Agent of SHIELD, undercover HYDRA agent, Thor's secret lover, and apprentice to the Sorcerer Supreme."

"Me?" Emma pointed at herself. "I'm Mr. Black's girlfriend." She paused and rolled her eyes up in thought. "Well, one of them anyway. You can call me Ms. Swan. Regina does."

"Emma Swan, member of the Star Sapphire corp, defender of Love."

"Emma Swan, Jedi Knight, Grey Order of Time Loopers. Still working on constructing my lightsaber. But I am a Jedi Knight. See? I got my membership card here!"

"Me? Oh, well, my name is Emma Swan. Technically, I suppose you could consider me Captain Hook's girlfriend, slash lover, slash fiance, slash wife, slash First Mate… although technically I'm like… his third or fourth mate if you want to really get into it. But I digress. Let me start over. Hi! I'm Emma Swan, First Mate of the Jolly Roger under the command of Captain Killian 'Hook' Jones. We're looking for Second Mate Henry. Arr!"

"I'm Batman!"

"..."

"..."

"Nah, I'm just kidding!" A pause. "But seriously, I do know him."

"Ms. Mills, what are you doing here?"

"Where is my son?" Regina demanded.

"Henry?" Mary Margaret was surprised. "I assumed he was home with you."

"You think I'd be here if he was?" she gestured at Emma. "Did you give him your credit card so he can find her?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" the pixie-cut black haired teacher asked, confused.

"Emma," the blond smiled and kept her arms crossed.

"The woman who gave him up for adoption," Regina had to get her dig in.

"Henry stole your credit card," Emma supplied, causing her amnesiac mother to dive for her purse. Then in an aside to Regina, the Savior commented, "She didn't know anything about this, so lay off. Hey, he's our kid, he's got the best of both of us. My… natural talent, and your skills at covering your tracks."

Regina shot a hateful glare at her current companion, while Mary Margaret discovered that Henry had indeed stolen her credit card. "Clever boy. I should never have given him that book."

"What in the hell is this book I keep hearing about?" Regina shouted out loud.

"It's a history book," Emma said before the pixie-cut brunette could say a word. The rapid response stunned the teacher into silence.

"I thought you'd said it was about fairy tales last night?" Regina glared suspiciously at her. "So which is it, Ms. Swan? A book of made up stories, or a history book?"

"It is a history book," Emma stated, looking the black-haired woman in the eyes. "It just so happens that the history it contains involves people known as Snow White, Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, and the like. I think there is even a section in there about a young woman named Regina, who is forced to marry an old king after she witnesses the murder of her boyfriend, a stable boy named Daniel. Who really didn't deserve her, if you ask me."

A hard, loud slap echoed throughout the classroom, and Mary Margaret failed to stifle her scream as her hands flew to her open mouth in surprise. Regina stormed out without a word, too preoccupied to intentionally knock over the birdhouse this time.

"Yeah," Emma tilted her head and rubbed her red cheek, "I kinda deserved that."

"Are you OK?" the kind teacher rushed forward to check on the other woman.

"I'm OK," she smiled kindly at her mother. Who didn't know she was her mother. Gawd, the start of loops were always so hard! No wonder she went a little crazy on the eccentricities!

"Why would you do something like that?" Mary Margaret wanted to know. "Regina is not somebody that you want to make an enemy of, and to outright taunt her like that… You must either be the bravest person I've ever met, or the craziest."

"Can't I be both?" the blond asked with a casual shrug.

Emma and Henry walk up to 108 Mifflin Street, where Regina is waiting by the door. Henry exchanges a look with Emma and then runs inside.

"Thank you," Regina says, sounding about as grateful as somebody that had punched her in the face and not apologized.

"No problem," the blond said with a shrug.

"He seems to have taken quite a shine to you," she commented.

Emma stopped and considered her next action. Every time she tries to 'make nice' and share a story with Regina here, the woman snaps back and basically throws up every 'Back Off!' signal that she can. And then she 'asks' the one question that the answer to is what made her stay in the first place, and only ever reinforces that desire every time she hears it.

She's tired of hearing it.

"This is gonna keep happening, you know that, right?" Emma went on the attack.

"Excuse me?" Regina rounded on her.

"Look, however you want to look at it," said Emma, "Henry isn't happy. As much as you love him, and I know that you do. In your own way. What you are doing, isn't working. And take it from somebody that ran away plenty of times, he won't stop running until he has a reason to stay more than a reason to leave."

"I am his mother," Regina snapped. "Who do you think you are that you can come here and lecture me about how to raise my son?!"

"I'm his mother too," Emma argued.

"No, you're not. You gave up that right when you tossed him away. Do you know what a closed adoption is? It's what you asked for. You have no legal right to Henry, and you're gonna be held to that. So I suggest you get in your car, and you leave this town. Because if you don't, I will destroy you if it is the last thing I do. Goodbye, Ms. Swan."

Emma sighed and rolled her eyes. Maybe next time?

"Who do you think you are that you can come here and lecture me about how to raise my son?!"

"I'm an orphan, same as him, and I know what he's going through. Apparently better than you do!"

"And whose fault is that? You made a decision ten years ago, Ms. Swan. And in the last decade, while you've been doing who knows what, I've been…"

"Ugh!" Emma pulled out her gun and shot herself in the head.

"Who do you think you are that you can come here and lecture me about how to raise my son?!"

"I'm the one he ran to!" Emma argued, frustrated beyond all reason. "I'm the one that found him, not once, not twice, but every time that you've known he ran away? I found him!"

"I am not…" Regina started to argue, but for once Emma was the one to cut her off.

"No. You don't get to speak. Not in the face of this. Your son has ran away from you multiple times. And your response has been stricter enforcement of the same routine. That ain't cutting it, sister! You want Henry to stay at home, with you? Great! Guess what?" She crooked her finger at the other woman, drawing her in close. "I actually want the same thing. So here's the deal; we confront Henry about what he wants, and then have a civilized, semi-adult conversation with him, and work out how to make it so that he stops running away, and you do whatever it takes to keep it that way. Or." Emma turned on the 'angel eyes'. "Ignore me and see what happens next."

"..."

They continued to stare one another down, albeit one of them was 'gazing innocently' at the other, the point remained. Finally, after almost a full minute of tense silence, Regina caved.

"What do you suggest that I do about that then?" she asked, tense with her arms crossed.

It took every ounce of Emma's extreme-tested willpower not to shout out loud or pump her fist "YES!" and the like. Keeping her face as neutral as possible was a feat that could be argued not even the gods could accomplish without cheating in some way. Still, it took her a minute to recall what it was exactly that she wanted to say/do next on the off chance that she managed to get through to her co-mother this early on.

"For starters," she began, keeping her voice as calm, 'innocent' and neutral as possible, "Treat Henry like an adult. Not an equal," she hurried to say. "An adult. Which means talking with him and assuming he understands and elaborating when it becomes clear that he does not. Not talking at him and treating him like a child who doesn't understand anything but orders. Believe me, as a kid in the system…" she took a measured breath, "... as an orphan-and yes, that's on me and I own up to that-I've got experience in this. There's a line, but it is pretty clear cut once you know what it is."

"So, basically, treat Henry as though he were one of my staff at the office, is that what you're saying?" the Mayor confirmed, incredulous.

Emma winced.

"A bit nicer than that actually," she confessed. "More like how you and I are talking. And maybe also something along the lines of our first conversation the other night. If it hadn't been for some of the local wildlife jaywalking, I would've left town thinking that my kid was in a good home and things were gonna be OK for him. Even if you were putting on a show for me, my point is that you spoke to me as an adult, and you didn't once lie to me. Maybe obfuscated the truth by saying you were 'strict' rather than 'controlling', but…" At Regina's crossed look, Emma shot her a 'come on' look of her own. "Oh, do not even try and argue the point. I've been here less than twenty-four hours and I can see that as well as anyone. And if you cannot see that, then Ms. Mills, you are the one that needs to be in therapy, not Henry."

Regina opened her mouth to argue, but Emma just refreshed her 'look', which caused the woman's jaw to snap shut as her mind started working. It wasn't often that she was outmaneuvered so effectively, though it had happened on occasion. She always came back stronger for it, however.

But…

The truths that 'Miss Swan' came at her with were hard to deny. Look at who she'd gotten her own experience of motherhood from. And… though she'd occasionally seen Dr. Hopper, (she abhorred thinking of these people by their 'original' names), for the odd session or situation as it had arisen, she'd never let herself be drawn into full time therapy. Maybe it was time she started?

Just… not with the bug.

"Very well," Regina said after a length of time and a deep breath. "What do you suggest that we speak with him about first then?"

"We?" Emma repeated, surprise evident in everything from her expression to her body language and tone.

Smiling, happy to see that she'd finally gotten a leg up on her adversary for once, Regina explained, "Yes, we. How are we going to explain to him that you're leaving and never coming back?"

Understanding filtered into the blond's blue eyes.

"Well, first of all, I was suggesting that you try and better communicate with your son, so that he'll stop running away," Emma emphasized, using hand gestures to further punctuate the point. "And second, is it my imagination, or are you requesting a referee for these talks you're planning?"

"It's your imagination," Regina replied with a dead look and deadpan tone, arms crossed.

"Third, and not yet finally," Emma grinned and crossed her own arms, "Henry and I already had our talk. He feels that he needs me here, in his life, right now. I asked him why, and while what he said wouldn't make much sense to anybody else, I understood what he meant, which is that he's feeling alone, and maybe even depressed. So he's reaching out to everyone that he can so that he doesn't feel that way anymore. Tracking me down was a bit extreme, I'll admit, but then… he's a smart kid. And smart kids often go to extremes. So, I'm staying in town for a little while."

Regina pursed her lips, ready to go on the offensive, so Emma preempted her.

"Last, but certainly not least," Emma got right into the other woman's face. "I want you to ask yourself a question. Because when I ask you the question, the answer that I get is always a lie. Don't know why, not sure how, but fact is, I can tell when people are lying to me. And when you answer this question, when I ask it, I can tell that you are lying. So I don't want you to say a word, Regina. I just want you to ask yourself this question and see if you can tell whether or not the answer is a lie."

Hackles raised, back arched, and if she had one tail it would be stiff and fluffed out, the ex-Evil Queen asked, "What's the question?"

"Do you love him?"

That took all the wind out of the black-haired woman's sails, and she actually recoiled, snapping out a startled, "What?"

"Henry," Emma repeated, "Do you love him?"

"Of co…" Regina stopped and did a double-take at her own response, as her mouth snapped shut.

"I'll be at Granny's," Emma said as she turned to walk away. "For, y'know, when you want me to referee or whatever."

"You're out all night, and now you're going out again?" Granny's voice shouted from the back as Emma walked in the door for the Bed&Breakfast.

"I should've moved to Boston!" Ruby shouted back, sounding as stressed as she was angry.

"I'm sorry that my heart attack interfered with your plans to sleep your way down the Eastern Seaboard!" Granny cruelly remarked. Fortunately, this is about the time that the both of them noticed Emma standing there, watching and listening.

"Hi," she waved shyly. "Excuse me, but I'd like a room, and was told this was the best place in town for that?"

"Oh my," the elderly woman flushed briefly at the comment, before asking, "Really?"

Emma nodded, still keeping up that shy smile of hers.

The proprietor then practically scrambled to get the ledger and did her best to offer and ensure she took full advantage of the new business opportunity presenting itself. "Would you like a forest view or a square view? Normally there's an upgrade fee for the square, but as the rent is due, I'll waive it."

Emma knew exactly what room she wanted. Over the loops, she'd actually 'started out' in each and every room Ruby and Granny had available. After doing that, she kind of flip-flopped between 'square' and 'forest', and then started staying in one particular 'square' room more often than not. It just… felt right, for some reason.

"Room 28 please. Square view. Like I said," she grinned more openly. "You come highly recommended."

Granny nodded and filled in the ledger. "Now, what is the name?"

Emma's neck tickled, and she heard the faintest possible scuff of a cane landing on carpeted flooring. Damn he was sneaky! And without magic too. Sending a silent, near motionless signal to Granny (finger over her lips) Emma spoke a name.

"Graham. Anna Graham."

"Dahl, with the 'H' and 'L'. Barbara, though most call me Barb. Middle initial 'E', like the letter."

"How original," Gold commented from behind. "Barb E. Dahl, is it? Welcome to Storybrooke."

"Guss," Emma replied with as straight a face as she could. "Connie, middle name Lynn, last name Guss."

Turns out she wasn't as subtle as she thought she was as Granny shot her a dirty look upon writing the name down. Gold, behind her, just sighed and rolled his eyes without saying a word.

"Kami, Deuce Kami."

Ruby snorted in sudden amusement, while Gold spoke up with, "What an interesting name. However, I'm more of a Lady Gaga fan myself over Britney Spears."

"Dee, Ellis Dee."

"She didn't ask what you're on, dearie," said Gold, "Just your name."

"Kinnet, Faye Kinnet."

She spun on her heels and gave an expectant look at the middle-aged man with a cane, saying, "I'm sure that's never happened to you, though. Right, Mr. Gold?"

Clearing his throat, he adjusted his tie and replied. "Certainly not. Ms. Kinnet."

After he collected Granny's rent, he said his usual bit about welcome to Storybrooke, to which she replied, "It's been a pleasure. Really, it has."

"That's what she said," Ruby couldn't help adding in, and all the women snickered at the man's expense.

"Guschew, Gladys Guschew."

"Erph, Helen Erph."

"Last name Leever, with two 'E's," Emma said while keeping one eye on the man behind her through the mirror at Granny's back. "First name Ima, spelled 'I', 'M', 'A', but pronounced Emma. Middle initial B."

"Emma, what a lovely, name…" She tuned him out for the rest of the spiel. Knew she should've gone the Austin Powers route with 'Ivanna Humpalot'.

"Kismet, Joanna Kismet."

Before anybody could say anything to that, Ruby came up behind Emma, knocking Gold back a bit, and said, "Don't mind if I do." And then proceeded to make out with the blond time looper in red leather.

When they finally broke apart, Emma gasped at Granny, "I'm staying in her room." And they both departed before the older folks could say a word. After they left, Gold just waved his hand, saying, "I think… yes, I think I'll waive your rent for this month dearie." A high-and-low pitched scream shook the fixings on the walls. "It seems that you have enough on your plate as it is."

"Swore. Kirsten Swore."

"Doe, Libby Doe."

"Furlove, Marian Furlove."

"Stitz, Norma Stitz."

"Titsoff," Emma said while making eyes at Ruby, looking forward to a certain repeat of events a few loops back. "Ophelia Titsoff."

What followed, well, pretty much followed along exactly with what happened during that previous loop. Nuff said.

"Less, Penny Less."

"Ladhys, Quinn Ladhys."

"Nuff, Rudy Nuff."

"Knot, Shirley Knot."

"Surely, you're joking," Gold couldn't stop himself from saying.

Emma turned and faced him, "That's my name, don't wear it out."

"Company, Theresa Company."

"Oh I used to love that show!" Granny grinned, then sobered with a hard glare. "Now, name?"

"Kissen, Uma Kissen."

"Me, I hope," Ruby licked her lips.

"Atious, Viv Atious."

"Fingerdoo, Wilma Fingerdoo."

"Nope," Ruby replied.

"Then maybe, Boutmiton, Howe Boutmiton."

"For starters," Ruby said as she dragged Emma up to their room.

"Wattudid, Xena Wattudid."

"Humpalot, Yvonna Humpalot,"

"Yes please!"

"Farm, Zelda Farm."

"... Really?" Granny fixed her with a look.

"..." Emma tried to subtly gesture towards Gold, but apparently the canny old woman wasn't having it, this time around. "No, not really. It's Zelda Gold." Spinning around she smiled brightly as she squealed, "Hi Daddy! I'm home!"

Waking up in the one room at Granny's with a perfect view of the clocktower, and seeing it ticking away, was always nice. Waking up with a cover companion (didn't always manage to stay on the bed) was even better, but that wasn't always a guarantee.

Sometimes it was Graham-she'd made quite the impression on him right from the start it would seem-while other times it was… someone else. Even money on it being Regina, Ruby, or Amnesiac-Belle/Lacey this early in the loop. That was something else, and apparently through no fault of what she herself did or didn't do, half the time Belle was locked up as a total blank slate in the psych ward, and the rest of the time she was partying around town with Ruby and anything else that moved as Lacey Franćais.

At one point, to be more specific after that time that she'd kissed Regina the… sixth-or was it eighth?-time they were in the Mirror Dimension, she'd seriously questioned her sexuality and exactly "which team" she batted for, to abuse the metaphor. Enough that for practically the whole entire loop following that particular encounter, she'd kept herself in therapy and was constantly questioning and trying to reaffirm that she liked men more than girls. The fact that that particular loop ended shortly before the whole Neverland adventure thing, specifically when she failed to help Regina in stopping the 'self-destruct' from finishing off Storybrooke, not to mention Henry being lost to Pan… well, it got her over her 'fears' pretty damn quick and allowed her to focus more on her 'curiosity' to see just how much she liked boys and girls.

So… yeah, she was Bi.

Whether she always was and being caught up in a time loop just allowed her to uncover that facet, or something about the time loops was shoving it in her face, it didn't matter, because in the end it just meant she had more options on the table. So to speak.

Though the way Henry kind of lit up with barely contained joy the handful of times his moms had 'come out' certainly gave some weight to pursuing a "True Love" relationship with her fellow mother, the early parts of the Loops made that really difficult. On a whim, she'd tried flirting with Ruby and uncovered the girl's own homosexuality… about five years early too.

With Lacey, well, the girl really didn't care, so long as she had fun. Emma wasn't even sure the Cursed-Belle counted as 'Bi' in that regards, as it was all about the pleasure, which she could get as easily from a toy, some fingers, man or woman.

Today, she was alone. Although, not for long. Yesterday-as in actual yesterday, not 'last-time-loop-yesterday'-was the very first time she'd finally gotten through to Regina about staying in town and talking with Henry as an adult.

How she'd managed to convince the Mayor to sleep with her before getting her to admit to needing therapy for herself and agreeing to have Emma as a referee during the talk(s) with Henry, she had no idea, but it was a time for celebration. She just had to be careful not to let things backslide, as they so often did around Regina.

There was a knock at the door.

Speaking of whom…

Getting up, Emma paused by the mirror and 'adjusted herself' before going over and opening the door. Hey, just because she had to be careful didn't mean she couldn't still have fun. And after all, Regina having sex with Emma Swan being a power play or not, it revealed the Savior wasn't the only one with barely-hidden-Bi-tendencies.

She opens the door, wearing nothing but her old white tank top (pushed up so that it shows at least part of her abs and hides nothing below her hips), and her panties (white boyshorts that are really comfortable). She smiles when she sees Regina drink in her 'appearance' and stall briefly in the speech she gives everytime without fail when showing up after the clock has started moving. Nevertheless, give it she did.

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

"Thanks," Emma accepted the offered fruit, and before anything else could be said, while maintaining eye contact with the Mayor the whole time, and bit juicily into the red delicious.

"I'm…" Regina briefly cleared her dry throat, "...sure you'll enjoy," Emma licked her lips around the piece in her mouth, "...them on the drive home." The blond noisily swallowed, and yet somehow it was anything but disgusting or gross.

"We had this conversation already, didn't we?" Emma asked, taking the basket of fruit from the black haired woman, making sure to show off her ass and legs as she did so, exaggerating a bit as she put the basket down on the floor. "I'm happy to referee while you and Henry talk…"

"That will not be necessary," Regina snapped, turning her flushed face toward the nearest mirrored surface to hide her flush. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Henry has enough issues, he doesn't need you confusing him."

"I'm not 'confusing' him," Emma said as she pulled out her jeans and started putting them on, in full view of the mirror so Regina could watch every second of it. "I'm 'supporting' him. Maybe not financially, but certainly in all the ways that it counts."

"My dear," Regina rounded on the now-fully-dressed blond, "you gave up that right when you gave him up ten years ago. So I think-"

"It's not a right to support someone," Emma interrupted her. "It's a choice. I can't tell Henry what to do, what time to get up and go to school, or even to eat all his vegetables. I can't make a single, legal decision for him regarding his well-being. That is what I gave up ten years ago, Madame Mayor. My right to be fiscally and legally responsible for him."

She stood up and again put herself face-to-face with the dark-haired, dark-eyed, dark-hearted… and really just generally dark woman. She really hated seeing Regina like this. The sooner it got fixed, the better.

"What you seem to be misunderstanding, Ma'am," Oh, she loved that flare of surprised fury she got on her face from being called that, "is that just because I gave up legal responsibility of Henry doesn't negate my responsibility to him as his biological mother. Which is to love and support him, even if it isn't to raise him."

"Well, my dear, that is where you are dead wrong," the Evil Queen snarled through the Mayor's facade. "You think you are riding in here in your little yellow bug, like some kind of savior, but all you'll end up doing is hurting him. Take my advice, Ms. Swan, only one of us knows what is best for Henry."

"How about this," she proposed rather than giving her stock reply to such a statement. "I won't seek Henry out. But if he seeks me out, I won't turn him away. And remember what I said to you yesterday, Ma'am. You need to speak with Henry like an adult. Not to him as a child."

Scoffing, she turned away from her nose-to-nose confrontation with the younger woman. Right as she got to the door of the small room, however, she turned back at the blond's next words.

"Look," said Emma, "if you don't want me there to referee that talk, then maybe do it with Archie, his therapist? Or maybe his teacher, or even the Sheriff for crying out loud. Just… some neutral party that can reign in your temper and Henry's… heh, smart mouth. Which, by the way, sorry, he gets from both his parents."

"It's time for you to go, Ms. Swan," Regina said over her shoulder.

Emma often told a joke of some variety at this point, usually along the lines of, 'But then you'll both miss me.' Given her goal for this loop, however, she held her tongue, instead responding as Regina expected her to.

"Or what, Ma'am?" God, she loved that look at being called ma'am!

Taking a step forward, trying (and somewhat succeeding) at being menacing, Regina told her, "Don't underestimate me, Ms. Swan. You have no idea what I'm capable of." She then left the room with a slamming of the door.

"OK, so let's see here," Emma said half to herself and half to the paper she was writing on. "First thing, get Mom to read to Dad, wake him up. Then deal with the whole Kathryn thing. Still need to figure out what exactly gets him with cursed memories though, hm. Oh," she looks up and accepts the hot chocolate from the waitress, "Thanks Ruby. Hey Kid, come join me over here for a second!" she called out over her shoulder, not taking her eyes off of the pad.

"How'd you know I was here?" Henry asked as he scurried over to sit beside her at the bar.

"I have more than one super power," she replied absently, sipping her drink. "Oh, and I kinda made a deal with your mom. I won't seek you out, but I won't turn you away if you come up to me for anything. So, well, this is where I'll be most days, until I find my niche. If you ever need me."

"Cool!" Henry smiled brightly, then looked over and asked, "What's that you're working on?"

"Operation Cobra stuff," she replied automatically.

He gasped. "How'd you know that's what…? Right," he nodded suddenly. "Super powers. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, you're the Savior after all."

"Something like that," she said as she scribbled out a couple more names. "Right! The thing with Cinderella, aka Ashley. Hansel and Gretel, although that might be a while… Sinkhole? Oh, yeah, Kid, if there is ever an earthquake and the mines open up, stay out of them! It's dangerous enough down there as it is."

"Uh… OK?" the confused boy promised.

"Need to figure out what to do about the Huntsman's heart… Hm," Emma chewed on the end of her pencil for a second, lost in thought, before moving on. "What else? Hey Ruby, y'know anybody by the name of Lacey?"

"Uh, no, should I?" the skimpy-dressed waitress shrugged.

"No, but thanks!" She hurried to write down 'Get Belle!' and even underlined it.

"Then there's the whole Miner's Day festival thing, but that's in February, I think…"

"Miner's Day is March fifth," Henry helpfully supplied, as he helped himself to the rest of Emma's hot chocolate.

"Oh, thanks Kid," she wrote the date down next to the notation about the festival. "Then August will show up sometime before then, I think. Oh, and Jefferson! Have to approach him about all this. Who am I forgetting?" She glanced out the window towards the street and caught a brief glimpse of the ice cream parlor across the way. "Oh geez! Can't believe I almost forgot about Ingrid! Again! Anything… Hm, there was that thing that David said happened after I wound up in the Enchanted Forest with Mom, so I need to make plans for that. Huh. Wow, when you look at it all written down like that, it seems like a lot to do."

"What is it?" Henry asked, intrigued.

"A To Do List," she said, as though it were obvious.

"For what?" he wanted to know.

"Operation Cobra," she answered, smiling. "And number one on that list is getting you to school on time."

"Aw man!"

Knowing what was coming and taking steps to get ahead of the numerous crises before they even got started was all well and good, but she'd actually gone through everything-several times at this point-and she was still looping. So, rather than rage against whatever was giving her as many chances to get it right, more than she even needed it would seem, she just accepted it for what it was and make the best of it.

She'd managed to move on past the 'figure in the hood' more than a few times, (person under said hood still changed every time she fought it, once it had even been Henry!), only to be faced with an even more dire threat later on, and past that something even more daunting, until she was literally facing the End Of The World, caps intended. Stopped that too. Still, whenever a member of her family died, usually her, Regina, Henry, or both her parents (never one or the other, always both), time looped back to the beginning.

One time, she successfully navigated everything so that she got to see her (and Regina's) great grandchildren! That was a hard loop to see end, but… dying in your sleep of old age was a nice way to go. She just wished it had been her doing the dying part of that rather than Henry.

Anyway, she'd long ago made the decision to do everything she could to give everybody their "Happy Endings" as soon as possible at the start of each loop. That way, they all had more time to properly enjoy being happy and having those "Happy Endings". For like, ninety or ninety-five percent of Storybrooke-not to mention every other character she ever meets-it just means breaking the Curse and letting their stories play out. For her parents, it means keeping David from getting his 'curse memories' from Gold by having him and Mary Margaret meet at the loft, rather than 'where they first met', not to mention having Mary Margaret introduce Kathryn to 'Coach Freddie' from the school.

Regina, on the other hand, she's the tough nut to crack. It takes a lot of challenges for the woman once known as the Evil Queen to overcome and start making the right decisions rather than the easy and evil ones. The soonest that she'd been able to manage getting her to turn over a new leaf, thus far, had been after she and Snow returned from the Enchanted Forest, with Cora and Hook on their heels. Making it happen sooner required… allies.

"Hey," Emma called as she knocked on the therapist's door and entered.

"Emma Swan," the cricket-turned-human smiled and held up the newspaper. "I was just, uh, reading about you. Let me guess, you're here for help with a little post-traumatic stress?" He chuckled and joked, "That diagnosis was free by the way."

Smiling in sympathy at the (very old) bad joke, she shook her head and said, "No, Archie, that is not why I'm here."

"Oh, well, if you're here about Henry," the skinny man adjusted his glasses, "I'm sorry, I-I I really shouldn't…"

"I'm not here about Henry," she stated, still shaking her head. "I'm not here about me, or Henry, or me and Henry. I'm here because I think Henry needs help."

"I… see?" Archie said, though it was clear that he did not.

"Not the kind of help that you're thinking of," Emma stated. "Mind if I sit?" she gestured toward the chairs in the middle of the room.

"No, not at all, of course," he then gestured and offered the seating himself.

"I think Henry needs help," she paused and continued before he could try and guess what she'd say next, "talking with his Mom. With Regina."

"You really think so?" Archie sat forward, on the edge of his seat.

"No offense to the woman, but," again that pause and she let her expression say most of it, "It is clear she has issues of her own. Now, she loves him, I know that much for a fact. Another fact is that she tends to talk to him, and treat him like most people I know treat their pets. Not necessarily a bad thing, most pets these days are really living it up and have it made. My point is, she needs to start talking with Henry. I think most of whatever issues they've got going on between them would be solved with just that."

"I agree completely, but…" he trailed off, a brief look of fear covered his expression.

"Yeah," she nodded, understanding.

"Which is what I need your help with," Emma then explained her plan.

Fixing Regina's issues in the early part of the Loops soon became something of a routine.

Step one, convince Henry that as much as she actually was the "Evil Queen", she was still his Mom and he loved her and, despite not showing it very well, she loved him. That usually got taken care of in that first conversation with him at 'his castle' that first day. Step two, get Archie to call for a 'family therapy session' or whatever he called it, and convince Regina that she was not about to steal Henry away from her, but also get her to admit that she'd made bad decisions in the past. Step three, talk about the Evil Queen and 'her' actions in the abstract, all for "Henry and Archie's" sakes, of course.

At first, just getting the woman to talk period was like keeping a giant down for a dentist appointment. And every single confrontation had to be handled delicately, because she'd fall back into rote the moment any sort of set-back occurred, and that was even more frustrating than dealing with Pan!

Emma finally, after maybe… ten or fifteen full Loops, managed to figure out what did and did not work with getting Regina on the right path in those early days. Although things repeatedly got… complicated around the time that Graham Hubbard, aka the Huntsman, started getting back his real memories, and Regina's default action/reaction to this was to crush his heart and kill him, thereby opening up the position for Emma to be Sheriff.

She really hated to admit it, especially with the repeated chances to save the original town sheriff, but… Emma actually liked being the Sheriff. She wasn't as crazy about being a 'deputy', especially not with what came later on. And yeah, she and Graham had a… thing or two or… she didn't know what to describe it as, but there was chemistry and that was all there was to say about it.

But the fact remained that in spite of everything he'd done, been made to do, the Huntsman didn't deserve to die like that. More importantly, Regina didn't need to kill him, and so to save her friend more than anything else, she always made sure that that confrontation in the graveyard always turned out differently, pretty much each time. Oh, and for the record, Regina only visited her father's grave on Sunday afternoons, never on Wednesday nights.

Most of the times, she talked Graham down and reminded Regina of everything they talked of in their therapy sessions about making good and right decisions. It was practically fifty-fifty odds on whether she crushed his heart or not. Either way, when Graham survived, she then somehow managed to convince him to step down as the Sheriff so that she could fill in. Then, when Cora showed up, (if he'd been talked down and Regina talked into not killing him), he was always the one that was dead in Archie's place when Cora tried framing Regina to turn her Evil again.

The other times, Emma kicked open the secret door, (it depended on her frustration level as to whether she just 'accidentally' triggered it, or literally kicked the tomb aside), down into Regina's vault and where all the other hearts are kept, though they both knew that the Huntsman's heart was always close at hand in the Mayor's office or on her person. In either case, when she wasn't talking them both down, Emma made sure to sneak in and steal the heart for herself, so to speak, before allowing Graham anywhere near the Evil Queen's vault. When they broke into the vault with Regina there, Emma made it look like she'd found his heart amongst all the others. Other times, when it made more sense to avoid any and all confrontation with the Mayor, she still stole the heart, but rather than let Graham rush off after the wolf, she gave it back to him in private and let things go from there. When they did that, he ran off into the woods and made a promise to protect Emma and her family as much as he could. He did at least leave a note as letter of resignation, and recommendation for Emma to be made Sheriff in his place.

When that happened, no matter how much she tried to prevent it or even tell him about what was going on and how best to deal with things, the Huntsman pretty much segregated himself from the rest of Storybrooke, only showing up when Emma, Snow, Henry, or David needed his help, (and he did help), only to sacrifice himself in an attempt to try and save Henry from ending up in Neverland.

She and Hook never dated during those Loops.

On the other hand, with the Huntsman's help, Mary Margaret was never accused of murder, Kathryn never gets kidnapped by Sydney or Gold or whoever actually did it, and Regina started on her path to redemption and happiness much sooner.

Routine Savior-ing and Operations Cobra, Mongoose, Save Henry and whatever aside, Emma also came to appreciate the Loops for another outstanding factor; Self-Improvement.

Something she'd always regretted was never trying hard enough in school or making a real effort. After coming to Storybrooke, her biggest fear shifted from losing her job and other bad stuff to never being able to live up to her title as the Savior. It had been a near constant fear, even after the Loops started and she continuously faced the figure in the hood with the sword, the sword that killed her, which really drove home the fear of not being good enough.

And while she didn't necessarily dedicate all of her free time between saving people to just one task or another, she decided to start off with the 'easy stuff' and go from there; aka Studying.

With that much, at least, she didn't have to hide and could study just about anywhere.

At the Loft.

"Hey," Mary Margaret greeted as she came in with the groceries. "What's all this?"

Emma looked up from her seat at the kitchen island bar, and then back down at the stack of books and open notebook she was writing in. "Oh! Well, I don't want you to get the wrong impression or anything, but I'm studying to take the High School Equivalency Exam. Don't get me wrong, I actually did go to and graduate from High School. I just… ran away from the foster home housing me at the time before, y'know, going to an actual college or anything. Picked my diploma up on the way out of town."

"So, then what's with taking the test if you don't need to?" Mary Margaret asked as she finished putting away the foodstuffs.

"It's been awhile since school," she grinned at the pixie-cut brunette, "For me at least."

Mary Margaret smiled back and sidled up next to her roommate at the bar. "So why the sudden interest in remembering the past?"

"I want to be better," the blond shrugged, going back to her studies.

"Aw," Mary Margaret cooed, putting her chin on the younger woman's shoulder. "For Henry. That's so sweet Emma. Now, what do you want for dinner?"

At the Diner.

"Morning Emma," Ruby greeted the Sheriff. "Get you a refill there?"

"Hey Ruby," the bundled-up blond glanced up from the heavy paper-back book she was reading out of. "Nah… uh, on second thought, yeah. But it's just hot chocolate, not coffee."

"What have you got there?" the leggy brunette asked as she came back with a fresh cup. "Looks pretty intense. What is that, some kind of textbook?"

"It's my reading assignment," Emma said with a tired sigh. "I'm doing the whole online college by correspondence thing. Trying to get my degree."

"Oh, what for? And which college?"

"MIT," Emma replied automatically. "Bachelor in Computer Sciences. Have to figure out how the damn computers work so I can hack the damn things so my grades stay in. Damn loops…"

"Oooh-kay…" Ruby quickly left after that.

At work.

"What's that you got there, Deputy Swan?" Sheriff Hubbard asked as he stepped out of his office to get some more coffee.

Snorting, Emma shook her head at him. "I've had the badge for two days already, and we had to deal with that mine collapse thing. You'd think the novelty would wear off by now, wouldn't you?"

"Don't know, you're my first real deputy," the rugged man answered after a sip of hot coffee. "Doesn't answer the question though, now does it?"

"I'm studying for the LSAT," she gave him the short answer.

"And that is…?"

She gave him a blank, almost startled look, but it was nearly drowned out by the boredom in her eyes. "How do you not know what the… Y'know what. Never mind. LSAT. Law School Admission Test. I'm planning on taking it so I can then study to become a lawyer. Or, at least so I can study law."

"I just hired you, and you're already planning on leaving to become a lawyer?" he asked, more than a little shocked.

"Or a judge, or a paralegal, or District Attorney, or any other position within the American Bar Association," she trailed off as she turned most of her attention back to the book. "Besides, can't afford law school, my criminal record would prevent anyone from actually hiring me, and I've told everyone in town that I'm not leaving my son when he needs me, which he does at the moment. Besides, nothing wrong with expanding your skillset, right?"

"Uh… right?"

Or even at home.

"Ms. Swan?!" Regina only refrained from shouting because her son was sitting there next to the blond woman. "What are you doing in my home? I can have Sheriff Glass arrest you for trespassing!"

Oh yeah, there were also a handful of loops where she never became deputy and didn't contest Sydney's appointment as Sheriff. The man always quit before the end of the year and freely committed himself just prior to the Curse's breaking anyway.

"We're doing our homework, Mom!" Henry spoke up before Emma could say a word.

"Yeah," she agreed, shooting her co-mother a teasing grin. "Hey, where's yours? We can all do it together. Like a study group or something."

"Yeah!" Henry enthusiastically agreed.

Ever since Emma came to town, his Mom had been more open and generally nicer and… and really just happier all around. It wasn't exactly what he'd picture the 'Final Battle' being like when he first went to get Emma, but he wasn't complaining about it.

"I usually do my paperwork in my office," Regina said, then did a rapid double-take, "and that doesn't dispute the fact, Ms. Swan, that you are in my home without my permission nor invitation. I would thank you to leave before I-"

"Now Regina," Emma interrupted, pulling out her 'angel eyes', "As I've repeatedly told you, when we're not in public, such as we are now, you can call me Emma. Also, I walked Henry home from school, as I told you I would start doing. Now," she and Henry both looked at her with the 'angel eyes' going full bore, "would you like to set a good example for your son and join us in completing all our homework together, or would you like to send him to his room so you can throw me out, where he'll probably go read a comic book or watch TV or something else wasteful with his time?"

Regina opened her mouth to protest, but just looking at those two innocent angelic faces staring back at her in open anticipation and hope crushed the last shreds of whatever anger had been bubbling beneath the surface. Relenting with a tragic sigh, the raven-haired woman closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Then who'll make dinner, hm?"

"I already ordered a couple pizzas for later," Emma countered. "And before you complain, I used the coupons you have in the kitchen drawer by the fridge. They were about to expire anyway, and I'm paying. Now. Pull up a chair, bring out the paperwork, and settle in."

Rolling her eyes, Regina sighed and did just that. She wasn't sure why she capitulated so quickly to everything this woman suggested, but she couldn't deny that she did enjoy sitting here, working diligently and helping Henry with his homework while his…

She stopped that line of thought and looked at the situation anew. It was almost… domestic, the three of them sitting here, each working on their own little thing, but freely available to help one another out. Then Emma started whining.

"Ugh, I hate math!" she groaned as she ran her clenched fingers through her gold hair.

"Yeah, not my favorite either," Henry agreed. "I much prefer English, or Social Studies even. I'm better with words than numbers."

"I fail to see what is so challenging about simple arithmetic, Ms…" she stopped herself at the blue eyes shooting her way, "... Emma. What precisely are you having so much difficulty with in the first place?"

"I'm doing this correspondence course," she explained. "Basically taking college classes at home rather than having to commute to the college. So long as I send in the work and take the tests on time and everything, I get my degree at the end of the semester, same as any other typical college student."

"Fascinating, and why exactly are you doing this now, I wonder?" the Mayor responded, suspicious.

"I was a bail bondsperson," Emma replied. "I was already in the course before I ever came to town. And for the record, this is not easy!"

"Oh really?" Regina smiled wickedly, intent on getting a leg up on her rival. "Well perhaps I can solve your little math problem. After all, I'm sure that if I can help Henry with his math homework, I'm certain that I can help you with yours, my dear."

Emma didn't respond to the jibe, except to start reading off the problem that was currently giving her grief. "For how many integers, n, with n (less than) 500 can the polynomial 'p sub n, times x, equals x to the sixth power plus n' be written as a product of two non-constant polynomials with integer coefficients?"

Regina stared. Blinked a few times, and then roughly grabbed the book she was working out of, speaking only after. "Let me see that! What… what kind of math is this, Emma?"

"Advanced calculus," Emma replied, calmly retrieving her book.

But studying wasn't all that she was doing. That was just one of the few things that she could work on without having to hide what she was doing from everybody. Well, most everybody.

"Oh, hey Regina!" Emma called out over her shoulder, keeping most of her attention on the task before her. "Come on in."

"Considering this is my office, I don't see why I shouldn't my dear," the much calmer and far less confrontational (after nearly nine solid months of exposure to Emma and weekly therapy sessions) Mayor retorted. "What are you… who are all these people?" She ended in a flat tone that warned everyone in the vicinity of the danger they were all in.

"Well, you know Jefferson already," she indicated the Mad Hatter of Wonderland. "And this is Ingrid, sort of my adopted sister, sort of. It's complicated. She runs the ice cream parlor. Oh, and Lily, my fellow student. We're learning magic."

"..." Regina's mouth was left open long enough that she actually felt it go dry. She then shook herself out of her shock and asked, no demanded, "What the hell is going on here?!"

"OK, think I've got it…" Emma muttered, and then gestured with her dominant hand, and the ornate candle in front of them on the table was lit. "And now, Nox," she made a different gesture and the flame was extinguished.

"I know that you love those books, Emma," Ingrid said with a patient, yet suffering demeanor, "but please do not confuse made up magic for real magic."

"Excuse me, but…" Regina tried again, right as Lily's eyes shone reptilian green and she 'spat' a bit of fire at the candle, lighting it just as easily as Emma had. "What the hell?!"

"Do you want the long or short version, Your Majesty?" Jefferson asked cheekily.

"I'm practicing my magic," Emma provided said short version without prompting. "Y'know, before Gold uses that potion of his to bring it fully back after the Curse is broken."

"You have magic," Regina said slowly, taking a seat next to her at the conference table.

"Yes," Emma answered. "So does Lily, Lilith. Although she's limited to dragon magic. It is not going to be easy to get that potion out of her mom. I'm just saying."

"HOW do you have magic?!" Regina screamed.

"I was born with it," the blond shrugged. "And, advertising aside, though this may be the realm without magic, all that means is that it's magic deficient, not magic free. Were you able to get a hold of the Dragon before getting here, Lily?"

The dark-haired daughter of Maleficent sadly shook her head. "I tracked him down to a place in Chinatown, but apparently he was attacked right before I got there. I… think he'll be OK, just out of commission for a while. Tasers hurt, but they don't exactly kill dragons, if you know what I mean."

Emma shook her head with an angry growl stuck in her throat. "Damn bitch. When she and that bastard get here, I'm going to enjoy making them suffer."

"Emma!" Ingrid called out. "You warned me that you don't want to go dark, which was a danger with you two being in the same place."

"Oh trust me, I'm not going to kill them, in fact I'll be saving their lives from Pan. But I'll get a lot of satisfaction throwing their lying asses in prison."

"It is really nice being on the other side of the law for once," Lily smiled.

"Ms. Swan, I'm going to need those answers, sooner rather than later, if you'd please!"

And then there was her more esoteric skills that needed working on.

"EMMA!" Mary Margaret shouted from down below. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Walking the tightrope!" she shouted back.

"There she goes again," David commented as he and Mary Margaret finished their early morning breakfast outside Granny's.

"I get wanting to stay in shape," his girlfriend-post-divorce commented, "but this parkour thing that she's putting herself through seems a bit… extreme if you ask me."

"What exactly did you think you were getting away with, dearie?" Gold asked the hunched over black-clad blond.

"Practicing my burglary skills," she replied.

"This is the twelfth time that I've caught you at this con game of yours, Emma," Graham Hubbard said through the bars of the jail cell. "Great example you're setting for your kid here. What have you got to say for yourself?"

"That you are really bad at your job," the dressed-exactly-like-the-Mayor, (complete with black wig), Emma Swan replied. "I've been at this thing for months, and I've pulled off stuff that you don't even have a clue about. You've caught me twelve times. Doesn't mean I've only done twelve cons. Oh, by the way, here's your wallet back. Want anything from Granny's? I'm buying."

"We need to talk," Emma said to the 'stranger in town'.

"Why?" he asked automatically with a mischievous boyish grin.

"Because," she sat down rather than let her eyes be drawn to the box he was 'drawing attention to' beside him. "I really don't want to waste time on long cons and drawn out vague explanations, August. Oh, by the way, thanks for walking out on me in foster care twenty-seven and a half years ago!"

"I beg your pardon?" he blurted out, caught completely off guard.

"Hi," she gave him a little sarcastic wave, "I'm Emma, daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, sent through a magic wardrobe, made from a magic tree, crafted by you and your father, a nice man that we in this town call 'Marco', but whose real name is Geppetto, who just so happened to make a deal with the Blue Fairy so that when that little baby was sent through it to escape the Dark Curse, you got to hitch a ride along. Pinocchio. By the way, did you know that they named something after you here in this land? It's called the 'Pinocchio Effect', it is what happens when somebody lies, all their blood rushes to the face, specifically the area around the nose and cheeks. Strange that they don't call it the Rudolph Effect, on account of the red nose and everything, but then, he wasn't known for lying."

"Uhhh…" the man was at a loss.

Emma took his cup of coffee and finished it off for him with a grimace.

"Short version; Time Loop. I've lived through all of this before. Longer version; I'm trying to figure out some other way of breaking the damn curse besides letting my son be cursed and having to break both with True Love's Kiss. Mother's love is as true as it gets, in my humble opinion, by the way."

"So… you believe?" he confirmed.

"Not only do I believe, I know," she reiterated. "Now, are you going to help me out, or do I have to knock on wood," she rapped her knuckles on his right leg under the table, "and hope I get lucky later on down the road?"

He forked another piece of pie and chewed and spoke only after swallowing.

"Time loop, huh?" She nodded her head. "True Love's Kiss?"

"Two for the price of one," she held up fingers to help illustrate, lowering her pointer finger when she said 'one'.

"So," he took another bite and finished it as quickly as he could, "why mess with what works? And a better question would be why haven't you done it already?"

"Do you want to be a puppet man, or do you want your leg fixed?" she asked redundantly. "Besides, I've kind of… made it so that what happens to put my son in a near-death coma, leading to actual death, well… it doesn't happen. And believe me, I tried just giving him a kiss and saying 'I love you, Henry', which I totally do, don't get me wrong, but… the Curse hasn't broken. And… well, let's just say that my love life is a bit screwy at the moment. So that's out. Hence, needing to figure out some other way to break the Curse."

"That is a conundrum," August agreed, finishing off his pie. "How about we talk it over with drinks?"

She gave him a flat stare. "No."

Then she got up and left.

"Hey Mal! Maleficent! Look, I know you're down here! We need to talk!" Emma shouted into the dark cave under the town library, twirling her father's sword in hand.

She wasn't sure how, but practically every time she came down here, the black dragon always managed to get behind her so she wound up backing her butt into the dragon's butt. Every damn time.

Looking up as the green-eyed black dragon hissed and prepared to blast the red-jacketed intruder into ash, Emma stopped her with just six words, "I know where your daughter is."

It was amazing really, how quickly the towering spectre of flaming death and pure evil turned into a whimpering puppy begging for attention.

"Well, to be completely honest about it, I don't know where she is right now, but I invited her into town, talked her through getting here and everything. She should be here within the next day or so at the most," Emma confessed. "Her name is Lilith, I call her Lily. I know… stuff… happened between you and my parents, but to be quite honest, a whole lot of stuff has happened since then. We'll all have a nice long chat about that, after we get you to turn back human. Speaking of which." She held out the sword for dragon-Maleficent to examine.

"The Dark One's handiwork," she remarked. "Vanquishes you, leaving only your ashes and one other thing behind. I've modified it so that all it will do is painlessly cut through your scales, and use your own dragonfire to cauterize the wound."

The dragon reared back, hissing once more, though thankfully no flames spewed forth.

"Calm down!" Emma shouted. "Not sure if you remember it or not, but once upon a time, my dad came to your castle with a jeweled egg? He sort of, somehow, hid it inside your dragon form. That egg contains a potion which will restore magic to Storybrooke, this town. Which will enable you to change back and forth at will, among other things. It's also the only way that I can break the damned Curse without resorting to True Love's Kiss, which can only be properly triggered by breaking a Sleeping Curse. See where I'm going with this?"

Groaning, the dragon nodded her head and lowered herself back down so the two were face to face once more.

"Now," Emma held up the sword for inspection, "Just because you can't use magic, doesn't change what you know about it. Or the fact that you can still detect it. If you have any suggestions on other modifications I can make to the enchantment, please, I'm all ears."

The draconic green eyes looked over the enchanted blade, even picking it up in dainty talons to examine it from every possible angle. Finally, she handed it back to the Savior and then grabbed a random piece of wood from the floor, blew a bit of flame to get some charcoal going, and then proceeded to write out a magical formulae on the ground. After she was done, Emma looked it over and started nodding her head.

"Yeah, yeah, I see!" she said as her hands started glowing, modifying the enchantments even as she spoke. "Leave the dragonfire element, but switch it around so that instead of cauterizing the wound, a healing element is applied instead. On anybody else, it would just vaporize them, but since it is your own dragon flame providing the power, it can't hurt you, in fact it would aid in healing that much more. Normal healing spells would bounce off the scales, same as every other kind of magic. OK, I think that does it. What do you think?"

Maleficent inspected the blade that would soon cut her open one final time. She could see no fault in the spellcraft, and nodded her massive head.

"Now comes the awkward part," said Emma. "Finding the damn egg."

"Bastard really needs to learn how to adapt his plans," Emma commented as she untied Regina. "I mean, really, stopping the elevator and getting me to toss him the egg with you tied up? He really does do this every single time."

"Quit complaining," Regina growled out as her hands were finally freed. "We need to get after him before he can…" she trailed off as she observed Emma holding the glowing pink potion before her eyes. "You took the potion and threw him an empty case?"

"Yep," Emma said proudly, preening. "You did let Belle out of her cage early, right?"

"She was moved to the long-term care ward the day after you gave me that 'warning'," Regina promised. "And since Jefferson is one of your magic tutors, according to your logic, he has no reason to betray me and send her to Gold, so he won't unleash a wraith on me after magic is returned. And this will do that?"

"And restore everyone's memories, essentially breaking the Curse," Emma confirmed. "Without having to break a Sleeping Curse at the same time that could potentially kill our son. Just need to make a minor modification to it for that, as a matter of fact," she said even as she plucked one of her own hairs and dropped it into the glowing potion, transforming it from a lovely shade of pink, to a near blinding whitish-pink with a gold aura.

"What… what did you just do?!" Regina exclaimed, shielding her eyes.

"Mixed in the essence of the Product of True Love to the potion of True Love," she answered. "Trust me, I've seen what it does, and it is worth the minor glare issues."

"You call that minor?!" she yelled as the potion was finally put away beneath the Sheriff's red jacket.

"C'mon," Emma said with a grin, taking the woman's hand in hers, "We've got to beat Gold to the Wishing Well. Then, and this is the important part, you have to drop it in while wishing for the Curse to end. Or even better, for your Curse to be broken once and for all, so that it is no longer your Curse."

"OK," the Mayor replied, running alongside the Sheriff. "But why can't you dump it in?"

"Because then nothing changes," she answered. "I mean, the Curse is broken, yes, but everything after that is the same. I'm hoping that if you make the wish, especially that part about it no longer being your curse, it means that when Pan shows up in a couple years and tries to cast his version of the Dark Curse, you won't have to send me and Henry off with our memories changed. That gets really annoying, I've got to say."

"Is this how you've been breaking the Curse?" Regina asked as they pulled up to the Wishing Well in the little yellow bug, some time later. "I mean, in these time loops that you've told me about. You already said how you would 'normally' have to break it, with Henry and… my trying to curse you. But since you've found another way, is this how you break it now?"

"For the most part, yeah," Emma acknowledged, hurrying them both over to the well. "Especially after seeing how well it works, compared to True Love's Kiss. This will be the first time I have you drop it, though," she confessed. "Sometimes I let Gold drop it, other times I drag one or both of my parents, the rest of the time it is just me and Henry, and he drops it in. Only time it really makes a difference to what follows is when Gold drops it, the curse doesn't fully break, and his son can't be talked into coming back to Storybrooke."

She pulled out the shining potion and handed it over to Regina. "When the heroes drop it, Light Magic is easier to use, but it doesn't change anything in the future. I'm hoping to find out what happens when you drop it and make your wish, Regina."

Taking a deep breath, the Mayor nodded and held the slim bottle of magic potion out over the middle of the well, saying, "Well then, my dear, here goes. Bottoms up." She dropped it.

At least the cloud wasn't dark purple this time, Emma thought.

END (1 of 7)