Once upon a time : Reawakened : Season 1

Welcome to Storybrooke

She had been hunting Ryan Marlow for nearly three weeks now, since he'd emptied his family's bank accounts and fled New York, embezzlement charges hanging over his head. Why he had decided to stop off in Boston for a little online dating was anybody's guess, but Emma Swan didn't care much about why the bail-jumpers she tracked down did what they did. She wasn't paid to know their stories; she was paid to find them, to catch them, and to bring them in.

She stood and watched him, uncomfortable in her high heels.

Marlow hadn't seen her yet, and she studied him for a moment. Handsome, just like he was in the pictures, but there was something smarmy about him as well. Which fit the bill, of course—arrogance and wantonness seemed to be the norm with these banker types. There was something about his cool confidence as he waited—it made her sick to her stomach, actually.

She went to him.

"Ah, you must be Emma," he said, rising as she approached the table, and she smiled her best nice-to-meet-you smile and held out her hand. She frowned at her own fingernails. She had forgotten to paint them.

He smiled broadly, lasciviously. Like a wolf. They shook, and he kept his eyes locked on her.

"Ryan?" she said.

As she sat, Emma, after seeing something in his eyes, smiled at him and said, "Well. You look relieved."

"I'm sorry," he said, chuckling nervously. "You just never know how a person will look when you meet them online. For real, I mean." He went to his seat and sat. "And you are—well, you're very hot. Online and in real life."

She did not blush. She looked down, pretended to be flattered. What had his online profile said? Divorced, no children, enjoyed yoga and pickup basketball? Right. Emma knew the real "real life" story. Back in New York, he had three kids under ten years old and a wife with a part-time job, trying to get by alone. Right now the wife was sorting through a welfare application. Devastated. Broken. Explaining where Daddy was. That was real. And here was Ryan Marlow, who had it in him to date after doing that to someone.

"So," said Ryan. "Tell me something about yourself, Emma."

Emma smiled her sexiest smile.

"Well," she said. "First off, I'm an amazing judge of character."

Ryan Marlow looked surprised.

She was going to enjoy taking this one down.

• • •

In another world, in another time, Snow White stood hand in hand with Prince Charming in the Royal Castle's ballroom.

All the kingdom's subjects surrounded the couple. The two looked into each other's eyes as the bishop asked Snow if she would have Charming forever.

There was no hesitation. She said that she would, and the two smiled at each other nervously and lovingly as the bishop pronounced them man and wife. The court's musicians began to play, and Charming and Snow leaned together to kiss once again.

It had been something of a miracle. Charming had awoken Snow from a cursed sleep brought on by her stepmother, the Evil Queen. And they were not, it turned out, free of her yet.

This time, just as their lips touched, a tremendous clap of thunder overwhelmed the music, and many in the room cried out. The assembled guests all turned at once to the ballroom's great doors, where the sound had originated, which flew open with great violence, striking the walls on either side of the entrance.

There, in the doorway, stood a figure all in black.

The Evil Queen.

Again.