Alice's Adventures In Storybrooke (A Crossover Fanfiction)

Chapter 11: Through The Looking-Glass

Ashley's hands shook as she pushed the broom across the floor.

It wasn't supposed to work. The mirror she brought from her her old house in the Enchanted Forest should not have had any magical properties to it. Yet when she reached home, there was a message waiting for her, from the last person she ever expected or desired to see again. And this person had demanded of her something that she dare not give. Didn't she know how dangerous it was, Evil Queen or no Evil Queen? Not to mention that these people trusted her; how could she betray them like this?

"Hey," said a kind voice, "are you okay?"

Ashley glanced over to where Emma was just finishing her after-breakfast cup of coffee. The Sheriff watched her over the rim of the mug as she drank. Sometimes Ashley appreciated Emma's skill and tenacity as sheriff-other times she resented it.

"Yes, I'm fine." Ashley gave the pat response in a measured tone. She'd managed not to react when Thomas had caught her sitting petrified at the vanity after the message ended. I mean, what could her stepsister actually do to her if she didn't comply? Ashley shook her head; she could not imagine ever ignoring a request, not even from her step-family literally a world away. She straightened her shoulders and marched out of the diner resolutely.

Emma Swann watched this whole performance without the slightest inkling of what brought it on. There was something definitely odd about the way Ashley had been acting lately. Emma couldn't tell if it was pressure from her family (whatever family she had here) or just the overall pressure of the new gang in town. Emma drained the last of her coffee, waved goodbye to Ruby and departed for her office.

To think that Alice from almost two hundred years ago should end up here with an ex-genie, hotly pursued by an evil sorcerer—Emma rolled her eyes; only in storybooks, one might say... but Emma knew better.

"Only in Storybrooke," she muttered to herself.

Ashley was just coming out of Maurice's flower shop at the end of the block. Once again, Emma felt that strange sensation of—something. She casually walked a fair distance behind Ashley, keeping her in sight while never looking directly at her. The modest cottage she and Thomas shared was back the other direction, she knew, so where could Ashley possibly be going?

Emma saw her round the corner right under the sign advertising Gold's pawn shop. Emma couldn't believe it; hadn't she done enough, getting Ashley out of the other deal? Was there another she didn't know about, or was this a new one? Emma strode quickly forward till she reached the store. It looked dark and quiet inside, and when Emma tried the knob, it was locked. Curious, Emma continued around the corner.

"Whoops!"

In a tangle of arms, Emma stumbled backward as she nearly bowled somebody over. That somebody turned out to be Mayor Regina Mills, who glared icily at her while she straightened her severe suit jacket and hair.

"Sorry," muttered Emma. Ashley was nowhere in sight.

"Going somewhere, Sheriff?" Regina snarled suspiciously.

Emma studied the woman. "No, just trying to keep Storybrooke safe," she retorted.

"By killing off its number-one enemy?" Regina snorted. "Thanks a lot!"

Emma tilted an eyebrow. "Your words," she shrugged, "not mine; anyway, did you see Ashley pass this way?"

"Ashley? No," answered Regina. "Why, did you catch her acting suspicious, too?"

Emma shrugged, trying to figure out if the behavior she'd witnessed was guilt or just the young woman's natural temerity. "Just trying to keep tabs on who's playing whose side," she hinted not-so-subtly.