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

Clara was sitting on a bench at the harbour, with a notepad in her hand to try and connect anything that's happened to Tamara. But so far, the only thing she had were the disgusting bagels she brought with her from New York.

Someone sat down next to Clara, and she rolled her eyes, "When a girl sits alone at a harbour, it usually means she wants to stay alone."

"Excuse me, princess, but this matter is urgent." Hook said and Clara looked up at him in shock, "Well, look at you, Jones. I thought we abandoned you in New York?"

"You did." Killian answered, "I got abducted by some woman and she took me here for a man. Greg Mendell."

Clara quickly grabbed her phone, "Did the woman who abducted you look like this?" She pulled up Tamara's Facebook page and showed it to Killian, who nodded, "Aye... What is that?"

"It's a phone." Clara deadpanned and she stood up from the bench, "I have to tell Emma about this."

She tried to walk away, but Hook held her arm, "Now hold on, princess. Swan can't know I'm here."

"I'll just say I have a revelation." Clara said as she walked away and headed towards Granny's.

When she got inside, she saw Henry and Emma eating a grilled cheese. Clara threw her notepad on the table and spread out her arms like she'd gotten a grand victory, "Good news! She-"

"It's Tamara. We already figured it out." Henry said as he took a bite out of his grilled cheese, and Clara looked at them in defeat, "Seriously? I could've had a grand moment right there. Anyways, how did you guys figure it out?"

"I bumped into Tamara earlier today." Emma explained, "She had a list with everyone in town and their Enchanted Forest counterparts. Tamara and Neal just left their room, so..."

Clara smirked, "You want to break in? Cool, I'm in. What are we calling this?"

"Operation Praying Mantis." Henry said and Clara gave him a fist bump. They headed up the stairs towards the room Neal and Tamara were staying in, and Emma began picking the lock.

"So, once we find proof that Tamara's evil. I guess the wedding's off?" Henry asked with hope and Emma sighed, "Henry... Neal and I are not getting back together. You know that, right?"

Henry shrugged, "I mean, once he's single, it could happen. Thrown together, moonlight, wine..."

Emma kneeled down to face Henry, "Listen to me, Henry. I am onto Tamara for other reasons, not because she's with Neal, okay? You gotta be lookout for me and Clara."

"But what do I do? Whistle?" Henry asked and Emma shook her head, "No, that's too obvious. You gotta hit the door. You know, like..."

She started to nonchalantly hit the door with her shoulder, "Or like, kick it like you're bored..." She kicked against the door, "Like... you know? Just hit the door, okay?"

"Hit the door." Henry repeated, "Got it."

Emma and Clara then entered the room, while Henry remained outside in the hallway. Emma started looking around in the closet while Clara looked in the desk, "Don't you think Tamara is smarter than letting her plans lie around in the open where Bae can find them?"

"You never know." Emma responded and she walked over to the bed, but heard a creak coming from the floor, "Gotcha."

She grabbed the loose tile from the floor, but the both of them heard Henry thumping against the door before they heard Neal shout for Emma and he entered, "Clara, too? Emma, what's this about?"

"Tamara." Emma answered, "I think she's playing you." 

Neal frowned, "She's playing me? How?"

"I think she's the 'she' August was trying to warn us about. I didn't wanna tell you until I had proof." Emma explained and Neal chuckled in despair, "Okay, yeah. As long as you broke into our room to spare my feelings... Are you out of your mind?"

"He warned us about a woman." Emma argued but Neal shrugged, "Yeah, which covers half the world. You roped the kid into this?"

Clara walked over to Henry, "This is adult talk, kid. We should wait in the hallway for now, alright?"

_____

After Emma and Neal were done talking about how they feel about Tamara, Clara had a shift at Gold's for the evening.

When it was nearing midnight, which was totally not coincidentally the closing time for almost every store in Storybrooke, Gold and Lacey entered the Shop.

Clara noticed that Gold's cane had blood stains on them, "You guys had fun, huh? Who was it this time?"

"None of your business." Gold answered as he walked to the back room, while Lacey stayed with Clara, "I wanna thank you for what you did in the hospital."

"Oh, don't thank me." Clara dismissed, "I'm just happy you got your memories back now. Alcohol and all."

Lacey gave her a nod and she pointed to the other room, "I guess I should..."

"Yeah. Go ahead. Do whatever you guys do on a nice Sunday evening." Clara responded and Lacey walked away. Clara frowned in disgust, "Alcohol stench is not for the weak. Why do adults like it so much?"

She walked out of the shop, but when she was walking back to Granny's, she noticed Tamara leaving towards the harbour.

Clara followed behind her without getting noticed, and saw that Tamara met up with Greg outside one of the buildings and kissed before entering.

"Now I got you..." Clara whispered to herself before making her way back to Granny's.