Not Alone

She had been sent out by Emma to help find Mary Margaret. They only had a short amount of time before Regina would be at the jail to see if she had done what she expected and escaped. Emma sent her out with her car to the edge of town to look in the woods and Emma was going to go to the other end of town to look for her. She wasn't paying attention when she was driving. It was foggy and rainy that night. She looked off to the side of the road trying to see anything in the woods. When she looked up there was someone in the road. She swerved to avoid him and they flung themselves off the road out-of-the-way. She put the car in park and got out running over to where the person had jumped.

She saw a man climbing up over the bank he had thrown himself over. Running over to help she apologized to him.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay? I Didn't see you there." She said.

"Uh, I-I think so." He replied.

"Are you sure?" She asked again

"I'm Fine. I'm not used to sharing the road with cars so late. You're the girl who works at the sheriff station aren't you?" He said

"Yeah" She replied.

"What brings you out here in the middle of the night?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing to worry about. I'm just looking for a lost dog." She mumbled a bit on the last part.

"Well i hope you find it." He said with a smile. She was staring at him when he smiled. Something about his smile made her feel strangely happy. She snapped out of her thoughts.

"Thank you." She said smiling back. He watched her smile too and then turned away. He started to walk but had a slight limp that she noticed.

"Oh, you are hurt." she said sounding upset. She knew she had hurt him and felt bad.

"No, i just twisted my ankle I think. I live just a mile down the road. I'll make it ok." He said with a chuckle.

"No let me drive you. I insist." She said.

He chuckled and smiled again.

"Thank you. I'm Jefferson." He said extending his hand.

"Kaia." She said taking his hand shaking it.

They smiled at each other and lingered looking at each other for a minute. She finally pulled away and went to get in the driver's side. He followed getting in the passenger side. She chuckled a bit as he got in.

"What?" He asked.

"Sorry this car isn't really made for taller people." She said.

He chuckled back realizing how cramped it was.

She drove him to his house. It was a very large mansion on the edge of town. She didn't know there were even homes out here. Especially ones so extravagant. They pulled into the driveway and up to the steps leading to the front door.

He got out with a little stumble and she opened and stood outside the driver side.

"Wow. This is your house? Looks more like a hotel. You must have a huge family." She said.

"Nope. It's just me." He said sounding a bit disappointed.

She suddenly felt bad as he turned to walk away still limping.

"Here. Wait." She said turning off the engine. She ran around to help him into the house.

He led her to what appeared to be the living room.

"I'll be right back." He said.

She figured she would make sure he was good then head on her way. She looked around the room and was looking at a very colorful painting above the fireplace. She was looking into the fire that was burning and watching the flames dance when he came back into the room. She turned around when she heard the foot steps. He was carrying a tray with a silver teapot and tea cups. He had taken his coat off and was wearing a printed dress shirt with a dark vest over top and had a matching scarf around his neck. She noticed how out of style the scarf was but somehow it fit him.

"I thought you might want to warm up for your search. It is cold out there." He said

"It is kind of you, but i think i should get back to it." She said.

"I know. That's why i brought this." He said pulling out a rolled up poster size paper.

"I'm a bit of an amateur cartographer. Mapping the area is a hobby." He said.

She took a sip of her tea and walked over toward the piano where he was rolling out the paper.

"Maybe this will help you track down your dog." He said.

"Wow." She replied admiring the work.

"What's his name?" He asked

"Spot." She said quickly with the first name that came to mind.

"Cute." He said chuckling at the name.

She examined the papers. Noting where certain thing were. She was impressed with how accurate it was.

"Well, Route 6 runs the boundary of the forest, so." She said taking another sip of tea.

"So if just follow that i should..." She trailed off feeling funny.

She leaned on the piano to settle herself.

"Be able to.." She said trying to complete her fuzzy thought.

"Is something wrong?" Jefferson asked from behind her.

Her cup clattered on the piano as she started to stumble more.

"I'm just, um, feeling a little..." She got out before she felt herself falling backwards.

She was dizzy but she felt arms catch her. She didn't try to move away and leaned back into him. It felt familiar to her.

"Oh. Let me help you." He said.

He lifted her up a bit and she leaned farther into him with a light grunt. He paused for a moment hearing the noise she made. He continued after a moment pulling her over the couch.

"Dizzy." She said finishing her sentence.

"Let's just lie you down here." He said

He laid her down on the couch and she slumped down. She used what little strength she had to push herself back so she didn't fall off the couch.

"There you go" He said.

She grunted again and did her best to look up at him. Her vision was blurry.

"Let me get you some air." He said walking away.

Even in her dizzy state she still noticed something was different about him. He was walking normal.

"Your limp..." She said.

"Oh. That. I guess you caught me." He said walking back over to her.

"Who are you?" She asked.

She felt her grip on the cup fall and it fell to the ground. Her strength gave out and she fell back to the couch.

He smiled widely.

"I already told you that. I'm Jefferson." He said.

Something was going on in her head and the name hit her. There was something about that name that connected with her. There was something she needed to tell him. Something important.

"Jefferson...I...She wasn't alone...Never alone." She mumbled out before everything went black.

He stood there for a minute just looking at her. What did she mean. It made no sense to him. But for just a moment he wondered if that was really her talking. The real Kaia. Not the Storybrooke Kaia. He had to even if just for a minute hope.

He grabbed the tape and tied up her legs and arms before placing a scarf in her mouth in case she screamed when she woke up. He had plans for her. He had spent a long time watching her and it was clear to him that she had to be the one. How she was able to be outside of Storybrooke when the curse took them even though she was a part of the Enchanted Forest was a mystery to him. He knew she was different and special before all of this. The time they spent together and their strongly connected past made him see that she was unique. But her being here was just what he needed to get what he wanted. He would figure out later why.