"Mom, I absolutely hate you right now."

Emma had to turn her head slightly to hide her smile. The statement was lacking any venom, as its speaker had roughly the same complexion as the dead fish they'd seen floating past the ferry.

After so many days of traveling in what could have amounted to a cardboard box on wheels, her son's iron optimism and unflagging excitement had finally met their match. It came in the form of a pack of vertically challenged fishermen, an old trawler that had been converted into a tourist ferry at the end of the fishing season, and an almost four hour trip on the water. In her son's defense, she wasn't feeling all that great either.

When they had arrived in Kitimat, Henry had practically thrown himself into the ocean in his excitement when he found out that they would be taking a ferry for the last leg of their journey. Because, while this tiny town now boasted the claim of hosting the terminal to the Gold Coast Pipeline, the village that was posing the issue to the shipping corridor was out at the very mouth of the sound.

Emma had stopped by the small field office that was monitoring the terminal to ask about a way to get to the island. The man sitting at the desk seemed less interested in her question than other things he was seeing, apparently completely undeterred by the presence of her son. However, when she dropped Gold's name with a sweet smile, mentioning that she was here on a special project and that he was waiting for her to check in, the guard suddenly became much more helpful.

He directed them down to slip seven, which was the seasonal home of the Fishy Dwarves , a lobster trawler turned tourist ferry in the off season, and its crew. Henry had muttered under his breath that the boat must have been named after its crew, and Emma had to bite her lip to keep from bursting into laughter.

The crew in question was an interesting collection of characters, all clearly from short stories, and the skipper was the most fascinating character of all.

Henry had run up to the man where he stood at the edge of the dock, identified by the shouts of several crew members on board asking for direction, and chirped out an excited, "Good morning Captain!"

The man had turned to stare down at Henry with a scowl. "Do I look like a military man to you, kid? I'm the skipper! Not some stuck up captain. God, don't they teach kids anything these days?"

Emma was immediately ready to leap down the man's throat in her son's defense, but another man hurried up to them, apologies already tumbling out of his mouth for his compatriot's behavior.

"I am so sorry ma'am. Please don't mind him. I'm so sorry he can sometime be… I am just so so sorry. Really truly very sorry. Honestly, I am really so-"

"It's alright; we all have bad days," Emma cut the newcomer off, shooting the skipper a healthy side eye when he snorted. "Maybe you can help us, though?"

The man instantly perked up, barely throwing a glance at his companion. "Of course I can! What can I do for you?"

"We are trying to reach Storybrooke and were told that you guys are headed out that way with cargo for the town."

Emma was shocked at the instant change in the man's demeanor. Where before he'd been obliging, he was now regarding them with narrowed and suspicious eyes. Meanwhile, the skipper let out what would best be described as a growl as he glowered at her.

"What would two city folk like yourselves be needing out on the island?" The easy going lightness that had been present in the newcomer's voice was gone. The skipper crossed his arms and tried to make himself look imposing. He ended up several inches short of the mark.

Emma opened her mouth to answer when Henry cut her off. "Mom's researching sea wolves! She's gonna take pictures and write an article 'cause they are endangered, aren't they? I was doing some reading about them and they can swim like twelve miles! That's so cool!"

Despite Henry's enthusiasm, the men were still eyeing her carefully. "Why you doin' research ma'am?"

Emma shrugged. "Well, my editor told us that all of our next stories were long ones so when it came time to choose what we were going to cover, I knew that Henry loved wolves, so that was what I picked."

"What paper do you work for, then?"

Henry was about to answer him again, but Emma was getting a little fed up with the inquisition, so she dropped a hand to his shoulder, silently quieting him as she turned on her favorite mom-glare in her repertoire. Henry had coined it the Now or Death glare. She felt a deep satisfaction when both grown men took a step back, and she could feel Henry's shoulder shake slightly under her hand when he tried to keep from laughing.

"Where I work is no concern of yours. Where we are from is no concern of yours. The only thing that is your concern is deciding on whether or not you can get over the small town stick up your ass long enough to take us to the island."

There was a potent pause and Emma felt a mild twinge at swearing in front of Henry. Then the skipper burst out into grating laughter, startling the rest of the group.

"Oh, I like you sister. Yeah we'll take you and your kid. We'll load up and shove off in about an hour. I hope you both packed your sea legs, or you are going to have an interesting trip."

It was now hour four, and an interesting trip was the most mild way of putting it. They nearly drove her bug into the water trying to get it onto the the small boat, then nearly crashed while trying to shove off. Then the skipper had gently informed them that they had to stay out by the Bug and out of the way of the crew.

His exact words were, "Get your scrawny city asses out of our way. Ain't no seats but the ones you brought with you so might as well make the most of 'em."

So she and Henry had been parked in the Bug for the last few hours with nothing to distract them from the rolling and dipping. Henry had tried to stick it out, but about forty five minutes in, he'd made a mad dash from his seat to the side of the boat. And despite it being only a few feet away, he barely made it to the railing.

Emma had rushed to his side, trying to soothe him through his sea sickness while fighting down her own. After his stomach had settled enough to sit back down, he'd opted to curl up in the back seat of the Bug, from where he was now currently pouting at her. She couldn't really blame him.

He had been such a trooper through the whole ordeal, and giving a quick glance toward the back seat, observing him for a moment while his eyes were closed, she could not help but marvel at her son. He had been her number one supporter from the very beginning. Every time she came home after another "assignment" was completed, despairing if there was any good in humanity or herself at all, he would always be there with open arms and a beaming smile.

She'd made a promise to him when he was born that she would never lie to him, and when she had taken the job with Gold, she'd had every intention of keeping that promise. But as her investigations slowly turned less from gathering information to ….obtaining information, she could not bring herself to keep her promise. Every time she had to wait until she was sure he was asleep before coming home to make sure she could get into the shower before she saw him, she felt as if she was swallowing poison.

She had once promised that she'd never lie to herself either. But as red stained water ran down the drain, she told herself that it was for the best. For the best that she continued to work for Gold, that it was for the best that she did what he asked. For the best that she lied to her son every time he asked how her special investigation assignment from her editor had gone. That all the seduction she'd used instead of alternate methods was for the best. That the blood on her hands, taken by her mercy, instead of at the hand of one of Gold's more sadistic hires, was for the best.

That the methods of "persuasion" she used were for the best.

That the quick death she gave was for the best.

It had taken almost a full year before he used Henry. In retrospect, it was a miracle that he had waited that long. But he was apparently saving his best pressure point for last.

"Ah Miss Swan, thank you so much for joining me."

Emma said nothing as she sat ramrod straight in one of the leather seats before his desk. Her skin was already crawling from the sensation of her bare legs rubbing on the strange leather from her skirt riding up. But the gleam in his eye sent a whole new wave of discomfort rushing through her.

Gold paused, head tilting slightly as he considered her, before speaking. "As I am sure you have surmised, I have a new assignment for you."

Emma simply waited, knowing that he loved his little pleasantries and having absolutely no patience for them. He seemed to pick up on it, eyes narrowing ever so slightly in consideration before a tiny smile began to slide across his lips. It was like watching a crocodile trying to smile, any pleasant effect of the expression ruined by the unadulterated malice of the face sporting it.

"There is a man of some import in New Jersey that seems to think that he can criticise my company. He says that our business is a joke. I require you to educate him on the matter."

Emma was confused for a fraction of a moment, trying to understand his typical asking-by-not-asking double entendre. But the malicious gleam in his eye made the statement click.

"Fuck no! I am not going to go "educate" some poor-"

"How's Henry?"

It was almost ironic. She and Henry had been watching Star Wars the night before and Henry had asked what being frozen in carbonite would feel like. She'd told him she didn't know. But as Gold's words echoed in her ears, she couldn't help but think in a distracted part of her mind, the part that was always thinking about her son, that she had an answer for him now.

Gold's smile widened. "He's such a smart boy. So much potential. I do hope you are taking good care of him. It would be unfortunate for the world if something were to befall such a special boy."

His threat could not have been any clearer, unless he'd actually said the words. She bit back the venom she was itching to spew, settling herself back into the seat with discomfort and defeat as his smile widened further, knowing he'd won. As he'd always known he would.

Emma stewed in her anger as the man continued. "As I was saying, I need you to educate this gentleman. I need him to understand that Golden Enterprises takes it business very seriously. But it needs to be handled with discretion. Am I understood?"

She refused to grace him with an answer, hoping that if she walked out of the office, she might somehow have enough wiggle room to not follow his orders. But he seemed to see through her ploy as easily as if she'd said it out loud.

"Your word, Miss Swan."

She grit her teeth but knew that she'd been backed into a corner. If she didn't concede to him, she knew that he'd go after Henry. If she did, she was certain that this was only the beginning.

"I will educate him, sir, and no one else need ever know."

She slammed the door on her way out. It was for the best.

"LAND HO!"

The coarse shout brought Emma abruptly back from her remincince and a moment later, the whole Bug shook as Henry jerked upright, swaying for a moment when he got upright, still off kilter.

"Did he say land? Solid land? Not swaying and making me sick land?"

Emma could not keep back her chuckle at his enthusiasm as he tripped out of the car in his haste to watch the shore approach. While they had actually been travelling well in sight of land for the entire trip, the significance of the shout could only mean that they had reached their destination. Finally.

"Henry, be careful!" she called after him, shaking her head as she slowly unfolded herself from her curled up position in the front seat. She winced as her stiff joints protested to the movement, but her back was grateful to be freed from the driver's chair at last.

Gil Island acted as the guardian to the sound, and Storybrooke was built in a bay on the southern tip of the island. As they approached the mouth of the bay, Emma marvelled at the optimal positioning of the town. The natural inset gave the town plenty of shelter from the Northern squalls, but it still offered the perfect vantage point to keep watch over the ocean of the surrounding area. At the bluffs of the promentory, a proud but run down lighthouse seemed to stand watch over both the headland and the vast Pacific seas beyond.

When Emma had looked at the map after she received the assignment, she'd taken particular interest in the geography of the land, knowing that she would have to be familiar with the ecosystem from top to bottom in order to sell her cover. As she studied the shoreline, she noticed that the peninsula that guarded the town hooked ever so slightly, like the land itself was arching inward to protect its inhabitants.

Henry was practically falling over the side of the railing in his eagerness to witness the end of the hellish journey, and Emma gave another quiet chuckle as she came up behind him to put a hand on his back.

"I'm not gonna fall in Mom, jeez," she heard him mutter, even as he leaned farther out and she responded with an eye roll. But then both were taken aback when a quiet voice spoke from just behind them.

"It's a shame you don't have your camera, Miss."

Emma turned to see one of the crew, looking down at his feet bashfully.

"Why is that?"

He looked up, as if he was surprised she was still speaking with him, then gave an excited little grin before turning to point back towards the stern, in the direction of the point where the lighthouse they'd passed stood. To her amazement, Emma could actually faintly make out animals standing on the bluffs.

She could make out about five forms and when she squinted, she was able to make their forms out more clearly. Wolves.

There were four gray wolves from what she could tell. But one stood apart from the others, and even without knowing anything about the social structures of wolf packs or anything about animal behavior beyond how to keep a fish alive, Emma was absolutely certain that particular wolf was the alpha of the pack.

Its fur was completely black, standing still as a statue. Even though the distance made it nothing more than a semi-indistinct figure, she could tell that it was watching them.

The Swans had decided that for Emma's birthday, she could pick anywhere she wanted to celebrate. Emma was so excited that she didn't know what to pick. She wanted to go somewhere she would really remember.

So she decided that she wanted to go to the zoo.

What could be better than going to see lost animals that had all found a home together?

When the day arrived, Emma could barely contain her excitement, bouncing down the stairs at a speed that on any other day would have had her tripping and falling. But not that day. Because it was her birthday.

When she pranced into the kitchen, it was to the smell of her favorite breakfast- omelettes. She knew on instinct that there was orange juice to go with it.

"Omelettes!" she screamed, catching the attention of the two adults at the kitchen island. They both snapped upright from where they'd been hunched over, presumably talking about dumb adult stuff.

"Hey bunny!" Mr. Swan was always calling her that. Emma didn't get it, but she loved having a special name, like other kids she knew did.

"John," Mrs. Swan sighed quietly. She only did that when she was mad at him. But he didn't seem to hear her. And Emma didn't really care when he scooped her up to soar her around the kitchen, giggling hysterically the whole time.

She could barely sit still the entire ride to the zoo, telling the Swans excitedly what she hoped to see and all the facts she could remember. They stayed silent, occasionally sending glances at each other. Emma appreciated the chance to tell them everything that was on her mind. They were always so thoughtful.

When the gates of the zoo came into sight, she pressed her face up against the window, the squeal of excitement just so big that it couldn't get out of her throat and she just ended up letting out a breath that fogged up the glass.

Then they were parked and she was holding hands with Mr. Swan, trying desperately to drag him faster.

"Come on come on come!" she begged, and Mr. Swan gave in with a quiet laugh, until both were running to the ticket stalls. Soon all three of them were passing under the two pouncing lions that made up the zoo gates.

Emma couldn't believe everything she was seeing. Monkeys and colorful birds and otters and penguins. It was amazing. This day was the best one in her entire life.

And at the end of the day, it only got better when they finally got to the best part of the zoo. The carnivores.

She loved all things with sharp teeth, loved the vicious beauty of them. The idea that what made them scary was what made them the best. Was what made them beautiful.

It wasn't until the last exhibit that she realized that the Swans weren't behind her. She stopped and looked around trying to find them. When they didn't immediately appear, Emma thought about maybe going to look for them. But then she heard another young child shout, "Oh Mommy mommy look there's a little one!"

And she just had to see what all the excitement was about. She ran back over to the railing, dipping and bobbing to see through the glare of the glass in front of her.

Sure enough, there was a small wolf pup, sitting at the edge of the enclosure, away from the rest of the wolves. It was so little, and her heart swelled with love for the little animal. It sat and started gnawing on a stick.

Then she heard one of the smart people who worked for the zoo starting to talk about the wolves and she scampered over to listen.

"This pack is unique. All of the wolves here have been saved, and are destined to be released back into the wild once they have recovered. However, one wolf in particular, has our caretakers worried. The small pup, that you can see down below, was born to a sick mother. All her littermates died during birth. The mother remained sick throughout the pup's first weeks, and was unable to pull through. But it's not the orphan part that makes this pup so interesting. It's that the rest of the wolves here in the sanctuary will not bond with her. For some reason, she seems to carry a taint that keeps her from getting accepted, anywhere."

Emma was surprised when suddenly Mr. Swan appeared, grabbing her by the arm, "There you are, we need to go."

Emma struggled faintly, "But I wasn't done looking at the wolves yet."

He simply shook his head, "Yes you are. We need to get you back to the house and packed up so you are ready to leave."

Emma was confused, "I'm going somewhere?"

Mr. Swan didn't answer her. And as they walked away, she was able to hear a faint warbling yowl, the cry of one lost with no place to call home or family. She was about to learn that cry all too well.

She was startled by the skipper's harsh shout. "Hey sister, get your kid back on board. And get away from the side while you're at it. We coming in!"

A slight wave of vertigo passed over her as Emma tugged Henry back, turning back towards the shore. She was shocked by how quickly it had approached. She could only have been watching the wolves for a moment, but the distance to the shore said that they'd travelled almost the entire breadth of the bay. The slip was fast approaching.

Very, very fast approaching.

"He's gonna stop…. before we get to the dock, right?"

Emma gave a slightly nervous laugh. "Yeah, kid. I'm sure the captain knows what he's doing."

"It's skipper , Mom." The joke fell a little flat because of the nervous strain in his voice.

Just as Emma was beginning to doubt the truth of her statement, the man screamed "Full reverse!"

A horrible screeching sound echoed across the water as the driveshaft gears ground against the the transmission sprockets. The whole ship seemed to vibrate as the engine picked up speed, the high revolutions trying to catch the gears. Then with a sudden jerk, the driveshaft caught, sending both Emma and Henry flying forward onto the deck.

Landing hard on her side, Emma swore as she pushed herself up before quickly refocusing. "Henry, you alright?"

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," was the only answer she received.

She gave a quiet laugh as she got her feet underneath her, turning to help Henry up. He was laying on the planks looking up at her with an irritated expression. But when she offered her hand to him, he gave a put upon sigh that had her rolling her eyes before he reached up and grabbed her hand to pull himself up.

Once Henry was on his feet, she let his hand go so he could dust himself off as she once again looked around. And she came up short. They had somehow ended up right next to the docks, the boat just barely drifting forward along the slip. The remaining members of the crew appeared on deck, tossing ropes around the cleats that were screwed into the wood.

"How….?" Henry muttered, also taking in their position.

She heard a chuckle, turning to see the crew member who had pointed out the wolves smiling wryly next to them.

"Sorry about that. Something in the engine's broke and once the engine gets above a certain speed, it can't drop back down to an idle. And because of the shape of the bay, there's a strong current that crosses about twenty meters in front of the docks, so we can't just cut the engine and drift in, 'cause we'd get pulled into those cliffs over there." He nodded towards the imposing wall of rock off to their left. "So the skipper's developed a ….technique for gettin' across. It ain't pretty, but it works," he finished with a shrug.

Emma and Henry exchanged a look, clearly communicating exactly what the thought of the skipper's technique , but said no more about it.

"Leroy, just where in the hell have you been?"

A stern looking old woman stood at the edge of the pier, scowling at the boat.

"Ah shut up ya' old hag. We aren't that late." The skipper shouted as he stepped out from the helm compartment. Emma raised an eyebrow, shooting a glance down at the crew member that stood by her.

He gave an embarrassed cough, "Ahem, yeah that would be Granny. She runs the inn and diner. She's very… um-"

"Your lazy ass is late enough that I gone run out of flour again and that means I ain't got no pie."

"No... no pie?" the question came from the slowest moving of the crew, and Granny, apparently, let out a scoff.

"That's right, Jeffry, no pies. Because you are LATE!"

Henry shuffled closer to her and she could see how tightly he was clenching his jaw to keep from laughing. "I should put that on the internet. It'd be the newest meme. I'd be famous."

That had Emma biting back her own smirk, "Yeah but what picture would you use?"

She heard him suck in a breath to answer before his brow furrowed, "Hmm that's a good point. I'll have to work on that."

She just shook her head in amusement, before looking around. The crew was still working diligently, unloading what was apparently a late cargo load of flour. She had to admit, despite their shortcomings , they made for an efficient team. Each had their station, lifting, hauling and passing the bags of cargo up from the hold. She almost expected the whole lot of them to start singing or so-

"Mom."

The worry in Henry's hissed word immediately had her attention. She whipped around to look at him and immediately took in his pensive expression as he stared over the side of the boat. She quickly turned to see what had caught his attention.

A dozen pairs of eyes were locked onto the two of them and the whole dock was silent.