The Girl and the Nutcracker ~ A Once Upon a Time Story

The next day, Clara picked up Henry from school. Regina had an agreement with Emma to let her see Henry more, under the condition that Clara would be with them the whole time. Emma didn't have any problems with that, she liked the teen and she knew Henry didn't mind spending more time with Clara.

Clara and Henry headed towards the Sheriff Station, and saw Ruby sitting at one of the desks while Emma was gone, still working around in Storybrooke. She kept picking up the phone, to put it down so she wouldn't have to answer all the calls.

"Ruby? What are you doing here?" Clara asked as she approached Ruby, who shrugged, "I quit my job, Granny and I had a fight. Emma wants to help me with finding something else."

"How about we help?" Henry said as he started one of the computers and headed onto the internet to look for job options in Storybrooke, "Want to be a bike messenger?"

"Bike messenger?" Both women asked confused and Henry nodded, "That's about taking things to people in a little basket."

Ruby shook her head, "Nope, I'm not so great at bike riding."

"How about taking things on foot, to people, in a little basket?" Henry proposed and Ruby raised her eyebrow, "I'm not sure that's a real job."

The phone started ringing again and Ruby huffed, "Why do the phones keep doing that?"

"The calls come through the phones here when Emma's busy. Usually Graham let me pick up the phone as work, but I don't do that anymore." Clara replied as the phone started ringing again.

Ruby decided to pick up the phone this time, "Sheriff's station. How can I help you? Mmm-hmm! I'll get her to return. Thank you, too." She hung up on that call and put the next one through, "Sheriff's station. Hey, Miss Ginger!"

Clara had a little smile at the mention of Miss Ginger, but Ruby nor Henry noticed it and Ruby continued her phone call, "Uh, no, that's not a prowler. That's Archie's dog, Pongo. Thrown him a vanilla wafer, he'll quiet down. Did you still want to talk with Emma? Great! Glad I could help."

Emma then entered the station, "How's it going?"

"Great. Except I can't do anything." Ruby answered as she put down the phone. Emma approached them, "I'm sure that's not true. I just saw you on the phone. That was good."

Ruby shook her head, "That's nothing." Emma rebuked, "No. No, it isn't. I actually have some money in the budget if you want to help out around here."

"Yes! Thank you!" Ruby responded gleefully, "Yes, um, I could answer phones and help out. Um, is there anything else that you need done? Organise files, cleaning up? Please, I want to be useful."

Emma started thinking, "I'm swamped with the Kathryn Nolan thing. If you maybe want to grab us lunch, I would never say no to a grilled cheese."

"Done." Ruby responded and then she looked at Henry, "You want anything?"

"Two chocolate chip cookies, an apple and a hot dog." Henry responded and Clara laughed, "He ate at school. And as for me, I'd love an iced coffee."

Ruby then walked out of the sheriff's station, right when Mary Margaret entered. She approached Emma, "David is in the woods. There's something wrong with him. He looked right through me, it's like... it's like he was a different person?"

"What kind of different?" Henry asked and Clara quickly shut him up, "Maybe he's back to that unconscious state he was in when he woke up from his coma. If he is, he could pass out in the woods and get hypothermia. That's a thing, right?"

"Yes." Emma responded as she grabbed her jacket, "Wait for me at the car, Mary Margaret."

Mary Margaret gave a nod and walked out of the station, as Emma looked at Henry, "Okay, kid. Don't mean to kick you two out, but I got to see if David's in some kind of trouble out there."

"It's okay. I'm supposed to meet my mom." Henry responded and Clara nodded, "That's true. She said we had to be home early to help out with dinner."

Henry hid his book in one of the drawers of the desk and locked it, before standing up and walking towards Clara and Emma, "You know, you can let Ruby do more. She's Little Red Riding Hood."

"With the little basket?" Emma said with a scoff, "Yeah, she seems like a badass."

"She is." Henry argued, "She just doesn't remember how cool she is or what she's capable of. But it's true."

Ruby then entered the station again with the food from Granny's, "Hey Clara, here's the coffee."

"You're amazing." Clara thanked her as she took a sip, "I love it. Okay, Henry, we should go now."

"Bye, Emma." Henry said as they walked out of the station. Clara looked over to him, "Do you know what happened to Kathryn? I keep hearing everyone talk about her at Granny's."

"She's missing." Henry answered, "Nobody knows where she is. Emma found her car at the town line. I think she tried to leave, and something bad happened to her."

Clara hummed, "Maybe she's lost in the woods? That's why David was walking around there to find her." Henry shook his head, "I don't think she's lost... if she was, Emma would have already found her."

Clara sighed, "Let's hope nothing bad has happened to her then."

______

After Clara dropped off Henry at his house, she headed towards the Pawn Shop. When she entered, she didn't see Gold anywhere. But what she did notice, was some dirt on the floor.

"Miss Stahlbaum, I didn't know you had a shift today." Gold said as he walked out of the back room. Clara looked up at him, "I don't. I wanted to ask about the Kathryn situation. Henry told me she's gone missing, all of a sudden. Quite a convenient timing, don't you think so?"

Gold chuckled darkly, "If you wonder if Mrs. Nolan is alright, don't worry. She's taken care of, and alive."

Clara was confused, "Why would you kidnap Kathryn? Did you make a deal with Regina?" Gold nodded, "Indeed. But don't worry, I'm not on her side. I will simply find a loophole in our deal."

"You better. I don't want anyone to be blamed for Kathryn gone missing while she's still alive somewhere in Storybrooke." Clara replied to him as she walked away and exited the Shop.