the thing you love most;
❛ TREACHEROUS ❜
❝ It's almost like we're stuck in time or something. ❞

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

STORYBROOKE

Audrey felt as if she was stuck in time. Her days were the same. She would get coffee at Granny's in the morning, go to work and spend the day doing nothing besides talking to the few regular criminals which she arrested. After that, she would visit her husband's grave, talk to him (well, herself) for a bit and then go home to spend another night tossing and turning until she managed to fall asleep.

Every day was the same ── until Henry dragged Emma Swan to Storybrooke.

Audrey picked up her things, ready to head out, after Graham came to the station and told her that Emma found Henry and brought him home safely. She tossed her bag over her shoulder and flashed Graham a small smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night." She said, turning on her heel and heading to the door.

"Wait." Graham stopped her loudly. She turned around and raised her eyebrows at the urgency in his voice. He cleared his throat. "Would you── would you want to have a drink with me at Granny's? Unless you have other plans..."

Audrey gaped at him in surprise. The two rarely hung out outside of work (despite the fact that he was one of her only two friends in that town) let alone had drinks together. She was ready to decline his offer but paused when she opened her mouth to do so.

"Yeah." She said, without thinking about her usual ritual of visiting her husband's grave. At that moment, he was the last thing on her mind, almost as if she forgot about him entirely. "Sure."

At her words, Graham's nervous expression shifted into a happy one. "Great! Let me just close up."

Audrey returned the smile and watched him tidy up his work table before they headed out. They got into the police car and headed to the only diner in town which was located next to the clocktower in the middle of Storybrooke.

They rode surrounded by a comfortable silence, making occasional small talk like usual. Graham was a good and honest man which Audrey realized when they started working together. He was kind, hardworking and incredibly smart. He was peaceful and calming.

Her heart tugged a little as she looked away from him once he parked the car at the parking lot in front of Granny's. She didn't know why. Maybe a part of her was still holding out for someone who was gone, or maybe it was just the pain of finally moving on with her life. Did she even deserve it? Was that even considered cheating if she didn't know if her husband was alive or not? Her eyes narrowed in thought. Was this even a date or was she overthinking it?

Graham snapped her out of her thoughts when he opened the car door to the passenger seat with a grin on his face. "Here you go, milady."

Audrey's eyes widened at the gesture and she stared at him with her mouth agape for a couple of moments. His grin turned sheepish and she quickly reassured him with a smile, before she got out of the car.

Once again, her attention was torn from Graham. But that time, it wasn't by her thoughts but rather the sound of a clock. Her eyes snapped to the clocktower above them.

"When did they get this fixed?" She breathed out in surprise.

Graham shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe someone finally cracked the code. It's a good thing, though. I heard Regina talking about taking it down since it was pretty much useless."

"Not so useless anymore." Audrey pointed out. Graham shut the car door and led her to the diner.

"I don't think it was ever useless." He said as he opened the door. "It gives Storybrooke some character. I couldn't imagine this town without it."

"I personally think some change would be good." Audrey argued with an absentminded shrug. "Everything here is always the same. It's almost like we're stuck in time or something."

Graham led her to a booth in the corner of the diner and chuckled. "Don't let Henry hear you. You don't want him thinking of more theories about this place."

Audrey sat down and furrowed her eyebrows. "More theories?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "He thinks we're all fairytale characters who got cursed to live here in the modern world."

Audrey let out a surprised laugh. "What gave him that idea?"

"Some book, I think." Graham said. "That's what he told Emma, anyway. That kid's imagination is insane."

"Don't let Regina hear you." Audrey teased him. "Who is she supposed to be? The Wicked Witch of the West?"

Graham barked out a laugh but didn't manage to respond because Ruby walked up to their booth with a grin.

"Are you shit-talking Regina? Without me?" She gasped at the friend in mock offense. "Traitor."

Audrey chuckled. "Hey, Ruby. Long shift?"

"Same as always." Ruby said, her red lips pulled up into a smile. "What can I get you two lovebirds this fine evening?"

"Some rum, please."

Graham tilted his head in thought. "I'll have a beer."

Ruby nodded, not even writing down their order. She looked at Audrey. "Some blonde came to the inn earlier. She asked for a room and said she was staying for a whole week. How crazy is that? I don't remember the last time someone asked to stay."

Audrey's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Emma? I thought she was leaving." She met Graham's eye to see him mirroring her shocked expression.

"Henry must have talked her into staying." Graham concluded just as Granny yelled out from behind the counter.

"Stop gossiping and get your ass back to work!"

Ruby looked like she had one too many questions but she decided to ask them later. "Come here for breakfast tomorrow to spill everything. I'll leave you two alone now."

Audrey chuckled as her friend rushed back to argue with the old lady and turned back to Graham.

"You'd definitely be Robin Hood if you were a fairytale character." She said, continuing their conversation.

"I'm a cop, not a thief." He pointed out, amused.

"You're not a regular cop, though." Audrey shook her head. "You help people."

She meant it. He was too good for his own good. He threatened criminals like kids who needed scolding. He sympathised with every single person they arrested and could never keep them locked up for long.

"Alright, then." Graham nodded and stared at her with narrowed eyes. "You'd be Belle from Beauty and the Beast."

Audrey's face scrunched up. "I don't think I'd be a princess."

"You think too little of yourself, Auds." Graham shook his head. Ruby set their drinks down on the table, winked at Audrey and skipped right back to the counter. Graham didn't look away from Audrey once. "I, for one, think you're pretty awesome."

Audrey's face softened at his words and she loosened her grip on the glass in front of her. "Thanks, Graham."

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Once again, Emma found herself in the sheriff's station the following day. The only person who managed to get themselves locked up two times in two days was Olivia.

Emma stole Henry's file from Dr. Hopper's office. Audrey had the liberty of tracking Emma and the file down before she brought her into the station.

"You know the shrink is lying, right?" Emma asked Audrey and Graham once again.

"To the right, please." Graham muttered as he took her mugshot. Emma rolled her eyes and turned around. "Why would he lie?"

"Yeah, I'd believe you if you were talking about Regina but Dr. Hopper has no reason to lie." Audrey claimed apologetically. She liked Emma from the short time they spent together but she found herself in too many messes since she came to town.

Emma let out a heavy sigh. "She's the one who put him up to this. She's gotta have something on him. He's terrified of her like everyone else in this town."

"That seems more likely." Audrey nodded.

"Audrey, please..." Graham sighed. He pointed to the left and instructed Emma, "To the left." He took another photo and said, "Regina may be a touch intimidating." Audrey snorted and let out a sarcastic laugh which he ignored. "But I don't think she'd go as far as a frame job."

Emma narrowed his eyes at him. "How far would she go? What does she have her hands in?"

"What doesn't she have her hands in?" Audrey shot back, sitting down on the edge of Graham's desk. "She's the Mayor."

"Including the police force?" Emma wondered.

Audrey pursed her lips and tilted her head in Graham's direction while looking directly at Emma. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized what Audrey was insinuating. Only half of the police force. Thankfully, Graham didn't pick up on the interaction.

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of someone running in. Audrey looked at the door to see Henry skipping into the station, Mary Margaret trailing behind him.

"Henry!" Graham exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey." The boy grinned.

"What are you two doing here?" Audrey asked, her eyes settling on Mary Margaret while Henry stood in front of Emma.

"His mother told him what happened." Mary Margaret said.

"Of course she did." Emma scoffed in disbelief. "Henry, I don't know what she said──"

Henry cut her off, "You're a genius."

All four adults froze. What?

"I know what you were up to." He continued. "You were gathering intel for Operation Cobra."

Graham squinted at the boy. "I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost."

Henry looked up at him with a boyish smile. "It's need-to-know, sheriff, and all you need to know is that Ms. Blanchard's gonna bail her out."

"You are? Why?" Emma asked Mary Margaret, confused about how Henry convinced her to do that.

Mary Margaret stuttered before saying, "I── uh, trust you."

Henry looked at his teacher then back at his biological mother with an I told you so smile.

"Well, if you can uncuff me," Emma lifted her cuffed hands between Audrey and Graham with a smirk, "I have something to do."

Audrey happily did that while Graham shook his head in disbelief.

They let her go but by the end of her shift, Audrey got another call from the Mayor who claimed Emma destroyed "city property". With a heavy heart, Audrey allowed Graham to talk Regina into dropping the charges. When he got back, she didn't even dare to ask how he managed to convince her to swallow her pride.

She just knew that she could never properly get into any sort of relationship with Graham if he continued his relationship with Regina. Judging by how things were going, it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon. And no matter how much Audrey hated Regina and liked Graham, she didn't want to get on that woman's bad side.