Down the Rabbit Hole

Welcome to Storybrooke Part 1

The wind blew through Lacey's hair as she watched the scenery go by through the open window of the Car. They had been driving for several hours now and Lacey's stomach was starting to rumble, the cereal bar she'd had for breakfast felt like a long time ago. They had ended up in Boston a few nights ago, following the trail of a nest of vampires, which Dean had dealt with, and now they were making their way up the coast through Maine. The scenery outside was beautiful, lots of pine forests on one side and the ocean off in the distance to the other, mist descending on the road ahead. Lacey shivered a little and rolled her window back up as the last rays of sun disappeared behind a cloud.
"Can we stop soon?" Lacey asked, turning to Dean, who seemed deep in thought, his eyes glued to the road ahead.
"Hmm? Yeah sure, whenever we see the next town." As if on command a green sign floated into view, through the mist.
"There!" Lacey smiled happily.
"Where?" Dean frowned glancing to the road side but not spotting anything.
"There was a sign, we just passed it."
"I didn't see anything." Dean frowned at her sceptically.
"I swear, there was a big green sign and it said Entering Storybrooke. If the next towns not called that, then clearly I'm hallucinating." Lacey decided. Dean shrugged his shoulders and they carried on driving until the trees started to thin out and a small town became visible ahead.
"Told ya." Lacey sang, happily. Dean smirked at her as he pulled the car onto the Main Street and found a parking space.
"Sure, we found a town, doesn't mean it's that story book crap you were seeing." Dean said as he got out of the car. Lacey followed suit, shutting the car door behind her before leaning on her folded arms across the roof of the car, smirking back at Dean. She caught his gaze before turning her gaze to the left. Dean looked over to see a large sign on the side of a nearby building that said Storybrooke Paint and Hardware. He looked back at Lacey who stuck her tongue out at him before walking round to his side of the car and linking arms with him as they made their way down the street.
"Ooooh, look!" Lacey nodded at a sign pointing to their right. "Granny's Diner, what do you think?"
"Yeah, why not." Dean agreed and they crossed the road before climbing the steps to Granny's. Dean pushed open the door and the bell tinkled to announce their arrival. As the door shut behind them the once busy room descended into silence, everyone's attention turned to them.
"Can I help you?" An older lady with grey hair piled up on her head stepped out from behind the counter.
"Uh, table for two?" Dean asked, exchanging a glance with Lacey. The woman picked up some menus and lead them over to a booth on the far wall of the restaurant. By the time they sat down the remainder of the patrons had begun to speak again.
"Okay, that was weird." Lacey said as she picked up a menu and began to leaf through it.
"You're telling me." Dean muttered.
"Hey, sorry about that, we don't get a lot of visitors round here. Can I get you guys some drinks?" A pretty waitress with long dark hair and a name tag that read Ruby appeared beside their table, not pad in hand.
"Oh, right, we were wondering what we'd done to offend." Lacey smiled back at her. "Can I get a hot chocolate."
"Coffee for me." Dean nodded.
"Coming right up." She disappeared, heading over to the counter to get their order. The door went again and a middle aged man and a young woman with dark brown hair and wearing a skimpy outfit, walked in. The restaurant was filled with whispers as they made their way to a booth at the back. As they passed Dean and Lacey's table the man stopped, looking at them suspiciously.
"Are you here with Neal and Tamara?" He asked, in a lilting Scottish accent.
"Uh, no we don't know anyone by those names." Dean frowned at him.
"What about Greg Mendez?"
"No, sorry, don't know him either." Lacey looked confused.
"Then what are you doing here?"
"Just passing through, on a road trip."
"Why don't I believe you? No one just passes through here, it's nigh on impossible, so you must be here for a reason." He looked searchingly between the two of them, his expression one of ill-concealed anger and mistrust.
"I'm sure they don't mean any harm, Mr Gold." Ruby, who had returned with their drinks, attempted to placate him. "Why don't we just leave them in peace."
"No, no. There are far too many strangers in this town, and don't trust any of them."
"When you said this place was nigh on impossible to find, is that why I could see the sign and he couldn't?" Lacey asked, nodding in Dean's direction.
"What?" Mr Gold turned his gaze on her.
"When we drove in, I saw a sign that said Entering Storybrooke, but Dean couldn't see it." Lacey shrugged.
"Most people can't see this place, even once they've crossed the town line. So I ask again, who are you?" Mr Gold leaned down so he was level with Lacey.
"I'm Lacey, that's Dean, we hunt monsters, also I'm a mutant-angel hybrid." Lacey decided to go with the truth. Mr Gold stared at her for a moment.
"And you expect me to believe that drivel?"
"Keys?" Lacey asked. Dean chucked them across the table to her. "Follow me." She lead Mr Gold and Ruby outside to the car and opened the trunk. Lacey unzipped the duffle bag she found there and tipped the contents out into the floor of the trunk. Ruby stared down wide eyed at the array of weapons and charms.
"Ok, you've proved to us you're not ordinary people, but you've shown me no evidence of...whatever you claim to be?" Mr Gold challenged.
"Well, see there's a problem with that. I lost my powers a while back, now I've been told they could come back, which technically must be true, or how did I find this place? What is this place by the way?" Lacey's ramble came to a halt. Mr Gold raised an eyebrow.
"Storybrooke is a town created by the dark curse, everyone who lives here is from the Enchanted forest or some other land like it, I believe you have stories in your land pertaining to our lives over there. For instance, in this land I'm know as Mr Gold but over there I was Rumplestiltskin." Lacey's eyes widened in surprise. She turned to Ruby.
"And you?"
"I'm Red." She smiled shyly.
"As in little red riding hood?" Lacey stared back in shock.
"That's the one."
"Uh, a little help over here!" Dean came out of the door to the diner, flanked by Granny, who had a crossbow pointed at him.
"Granny! You can let him go, it's fine." Red called to her. Granny lowered the crossbow.
"Never can be too careful around here." She said before disappearing back inside.
"Dean, I think we need to make some reintroductions, this is Rumplestiltskin and Red." Dean raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. There was a noise behind them as three people came running over, a young boy trailing behind them.
"Oh just what we need, the Charmings." Mr Gold muttered under his breath before heading back into the diner.
"Ruby, can you watch Henry for a while, we think we have a lead on where Regina is." A woman with long blonde hair asked.
"The Charmings?" Lacey stuttered out, louder than she'd intended.
"Right of course, Lacey, Dean this is Emma Swan, she's the Sheriff and these are her parents David and Mary-Margaret, you probably know them as Snow White and Prince Charming." Ruby explained. Lacey stared at them open mouthed while Dean continued to look sceptical. "Lacey and Dean showed up here this morning, Lacey has special powers which is why they were able to find us." Ruby explained.
"Parents?" Dean was still stuck on the former statement.
"It's a long story, which we'll be happy to tell you later. I'm afraid right now we're searching for our missing friend." David explained.
"Want some help with that?" Dean asked, nodding at the cache of weapons in the still open trunk. David's eyes widened slightly.
"Sure, why not." Dean grabbed his gun from the trunk and handed Lacey one too. She wrinkled her nose.
"I hate using these things, I never feel safe." Ruby took Henry inside and they followed the three of them down to the docks.
"So who are we looking for?" Lacey asked as they rounded the corner of one of the cannery buildings.
"Regina is the Mayor of Storybrooke, you probably know her as the Evil Queen, my stepmother." Snow told her.
"How did the Evil Queen get kidnapped?" Lacey asked, surprised.
"We're not sure, they must have blocked her magic somehow." All conversation stopped as they entered the building. The machinery whirred away in the background but there were no lights on to penetrate the murky blackness. They split up, David and Snow heading one way while Dean and Lacey followed Emma. As they rounded the side of a machine a figure stepped out of the shadows. Emma and Dean raised their guns.
"Whoah, whoah, whoah! It's me!" A guy stepped into the light. Emma lowered her gun.
"What are you doing here?" She nodded at Dean to do the same.
"I figured if Tamara really is up to something, I should help you figure it out. Who are these guys?"
"This is Dean and Lacey, they're visiting, they know who we are. This is Neal, Mr Golds son, and Henry's father." Emma explained quickly. "Why don't you guys head round that side, Neal and I will go the other way." Lacey and Dean nodded in agreement before they split up.
"Well, today had been way more eventful than expected." Lacey said softly as they went down another row of machinery.
"Yeah, you're telling me." Dean scoffed. They could hear water dripping from somewhere in the distance and the hum of the machine but nothing else. The quiet was broken by the sound of a gun being fired a short distance away.
"Come on." Dean took hold of Lacey's hand and pulled her in the direction the sound was coming from. Lacey pulled her gun from her pocket and held it up ready as they rounded a corner and found themselves in a wooden corridor, leading to the entrance of the factory. They arrived just in time to see a woman disappearing through the front door as a large green swirling hole opened up in the floor. Neal, who was lying on the floor clutching a gunshot wound began to slide down through the broken floorboards and into the churning portal.
"Neal!" Emma shouted as she clung onto a broken pipe that was slowly coming away from the wall, the only thing stopping her from falling through the portal as well. She managed to swing her weight round and land on one of the broken boards too and grabbed for Neal's hand. She watched in despair as he slid just out of reach and disappeared through the portal. Emma began to slide forward herself, the boards she was leaning on bending under her weight. Lacey ran forward as Emma turned her body, trying to grab onto one of the boards she was sliding off. As Lacey reached the edge she crouched down, reaching her hand out for Emma. She could almost reach her but Emma was still sliding away from her. She could feel Dean holding onto her arm, keeping her anchored so as not to fall in herself. Emma was almost out of reach now, Lacey gave one last ditch effort, willing herself to be able to reach. Suddenly Emma was flying towards them. The portal closed as she and Lacey fell backwards into Dean. The three of them slowly got to their feet, staring at the spot where the portal had closed, where Neal had once stood.
"I'm so sorry, we got here as quickly as we could." Lacey said gently.
"It's ok. It's not your fault." Emma replied tearfully. They turned at the sound of running footsteps and Snow appeared in the doorway.
"We found Regina! What happened?" Snow asked as Emma collapsed into her arms.
"We'll give you some privacy." Dean said as he put his arm round Lacey's waist, leading her towards the door. Lacey looked back sadly at Emma and Snow. "Come on, we'll go get a room at Granny's, apparently it's a Bed and Breakfast, we can see how they're doing in the morning." Dean told her softly as they walked back towards Main Street.