The bell chimed overhead as Henry entered the Pawn Shop. "Mr. Gold?"

"Yes, laddie?" Mr. Gold set down a crystal glass he was cleaning on the counter. With his suit and cane, well-kept appearance and reserved manner, it was hard sometimes to reconcile the man standing in front of him with the drawings in his book. With a twinge of guilt, he remembered how it had never been hard to view his mother as the Evil Queen. But what did he have to feel guilty for? He had known something about the town was wrong the second he had lain hands on the book, and the curse had made perfect sense once he realized how foggy and faded his memories of anyone but his mother had been. Still, he never forgot the way she had taken care of him when he was sick, let him sleep in her bed when he was scared, and the smile on her face when he made her the hand mold she displayed so proudly on her dresser.

Mr. Gold raised an eyebrow. "Is there something I can assist you with?"

"I, um, I need something. A cloak. Like Ruby's." Henry's gaze dropped to his feet, ashamed. Last night's transformation had been no better than the night before. It had been worse, actually, if the way Ruby favored her left leg that morning and the bruise his mother had tried to cover up with makeup were any indications. He hadn't been able to ask how she had gotten the bruise on the side of her face, and bile rose in his throat when he wondered whether he had bitten her. He had snuck out of the house after breakfast (which he had barely nibbled on), resolving to ask her after he had acquired the cloak.

Mr. Gold's eyebrows rose. "Really? And what might you need a cloak like that for?"

"I'm a...a werewolf," Henry whispered.

"I see." Mr. Gold studied him for a moment. Henry hated it when he did that. It felt like Mr. Gold could read his thoughts. "Wait here." He disappeared into the back. Henry heard him moving around in the backroom. After a few minutes, Mr. Gold returned with a forest green cloak. "It's a bit big now, but you'll grow into it."

Henry took the cloak and ran it through his hands. It was smooth and silky. "What do you want in return?"

"This one's on me," Mr. Gold said. He looked up when the bell chimed and smiled. "Hello, Belle."

"Hey, there," she said, stopping beside him. Her expression was a strange combination of suspicious and optimistic. "What are you up to?"

"Just helping young Henry here with a little problem he's having," Mr. Gold said. He smiled at Henry, and it seemed to be genuine. "Why don't you run along now? I can't imagine your mothers know you're here. They'll be worried."

Henry grinned, holding the cloak tightly. "Thanks, Mr. Gold." He dashed out of the pawn shop and jogged toward Emma and Mary Margaret's apartment. It would be the perfect place to hide the cloak until he could come up with a believable lie for how he got it. Regina would know what it was the instant she saw it, but Emma wouldn't. If they found out where he got it from, he would be in so much trouble.

He climbed the stairs to the apartment. Stopping outside the door, he listened carefully for the sounds of someone moving around inside. He couldn't hear anything. He opened the door and snuck into the apartment.

"Henry?"

He winced. Emma raised an eyebrow. She was leaning against the counter, a cup of coffee held in her hands.

"What's that you've got?" she asked, setting down coffee cup on the kitchen island.

Snow and David watched from the other side of the room from where they sat on the bed. Snow's eyes moved from Henry, to the cloak, and back. Her eyes widened. Henry could almost see the pieces fitting together in her mind.

"Is that a cloak like Ruby's?" she asked, standing up and moving toward him. "Henry, where did you get that?" The worry in her voice sent a spike of guilt through him. Of course she would be worried. Making a magic cloak to stop werewolf transformations couldn't be easy, and there were very few people he could have gotten it from. "Did Regina make this for you?"

"No," Henry said. "She only uses magic when its an emergency now."

Henry protested when Snow took the cloak from his hands and ran it through her fingers, examining it closely.

"Did you get it from Mother Superior?"

"I, um..."

Emma's eyes widened. "Don't tell me you got that from Gold."

"No!" Henry said. "I got it from Mother Superior. Like Mary Margaret said."

"Oh, yeah, sure." Emma rolled her eyes. "That was convincing." She took the cloak from Snow and studied it. "The cloak Ruby has... That's supposed to stop her from transforming during the full moon, right?" She frowned. "And you got this from Gold?"

"Yes, but he said this one was on him," Henry assured her. "He didn't want anything, I swear."

Emma pulled out her phone, tapped in some numbers and waited. "It's Emma. Can I bring Henry over? It's urgent." She frowned, shooting Henry a stern look. "You might want to check again. He's here with me right now."

Henry's heart sunk. So much for keeping Regina from finding out. He ducked his head and shuffled his feet when Emma shot him another exasperated glare.

"Yeah, we'll be right over." Emma hung up. She balled the cloak up in one hand, grabbed her red leather jacket from the coat hanger and shrugged it on. Opening the door, she waved Henry outside. He trudged past her, shoulders hunched. "You are so busted, kid."

. . .

Henry kicked his feet back and forth, shoulders slumped, staring at his shoes morosely. Emma stood beside Regina, arms crossed. Henry wasn't sure how his mothers had come to be aligned. Despite wishing his mothers would get along, he couldn't help thinking that this was not what he had in mind.

"You should have come to us," Regina said.

"Mr. Gold didn't want anything. I swear." He frowned.

"Not yet," Emma said. "But he might want something later. You can't sneak around our backs like this. And what if he had wanted something? Would you have given it to him?"

Henry didn't answer. He stopped kicking his feet.

Regina crouched in front of Henry. "Magic isn't the answer. What will happen if the cloak is damaged or destroyed or stolen?" She couldn't hide her concern. Henry tensed. He hadn't thought about that."You need to learn to control your transformations."

"No." Henry shook his head. Bile rose in his throat. "I can't." His throat constricted, and he ducked his head.

"Why not?" Emma asked.

Henry shook his head.

Regina gently touched his chin, guiding him to meet her gaze. "What's wrong, Henry?"

"I..." He swallowed hard. "I'm scared." His voice came out as no more than a whisper.

"Of what?"

"Hurting you," he whispered. He ducked his head, clasping his hands together and squeezing tightly. "I know I did last night. I saw the bruise."

"Henry..." Regina cupped his face. "It's not your fault. It will heal soon enough."

Henry shook his head. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs. "I don't want to hurt anyone." A tear slipped down his face, and he rubbed it away. "I didn't ask for this. I don't want it."

"I know how you feel, kid," Emma said. He looked up, surprised. "But you've just got to accept it and fight on. You can't let this beat you. Do you understand?"

Henry swallowed painfully. "Yes."

Regina studied Emma for a moment with an unreadable expression. She ran a hand over Henry's hair absently. Sitting beside him on the bed, she draped an arm around his shoulders.

"I've never known Gold to go back on his deals," Regina said after a moment. She sounded reluctant. "If he truly gave you the cloak with no mention of a future return then it should be safe to assume that he is a non-issue."

"Are you sure?" Emma asked.

"Yes. Rumplestiltskin gave Henry the amulet he used to communicate with your mother free of charge. While rare, it is not unheard of for him to do things for others without anything owed in return. But I don't believe for a second that he didn't have ulterior motives. Rumplestiltskin never does anything out of the goodness of his heart."

Henry leaned against his mother's side, feeling sick. He didn't want to talk about this anymore. Wasn't there anything else they could discuss? "Did you find out where Cora is hiding?"

Emma shook her head. "No. We had Ruby and Leroy check out a couple of places with Mother Superior this morning, but there wasn't anything there."

"My mother knows concealments that perhaps the Blue Fairy does not." Regina smoothed her skirt with a frown. "My mother is more powerful than the Blue Fairy and more powerful than I am. The only one who could perhaps be successful in finding her would be Rumplestiltskin. He would desire something in return for that, however."

Emma slid her hands in her pockets. "Yeah..." She turned to Henry. "Do you understand why we're disappointed?"

Henry stared, taken aback by the change of topic. "Yes. I'm sorry." He turned to Regina. "I promise I'll talk to you first next time."

Regina pulled him against her side and squeezed gently. "I love you, Henry," she said softly.

He smiled. "I know."

. . .

Dinner was a pleasant affair against all odds, with Regina and Emma holding polite if sparse discussion. Tired of talking and being the one to fix uncomfortable situations between adults, Henry ate in silence and allowed them to take over. With his spoon halfway to his mouth, Henry paused. He took a deep breath. Something was different. He could smell it. Frowning, he could have sworn he heard footsteps approaching the front door. But how? It was out of earshot. How could hear those things, smell those things, when Emma and his mother, as aware of her surroundings as she had proven herself to be, were completely unaware?

The front door opened, and Henry was the first out of his seat. Before Emma and Regina had even gotten to their feet, he planted himself in the doorway to the kitchen. Ruby collided with him as she rounded the corner. They stumbled away from each other.

"Ruby?" Emma said. "What are you doing here?"

"King George knows about Henry. Leroy heard him telling people at The Rabbit Hole about it. He knows that Henry can't control himself yet."

"Great," Emma muttered. "Just what we needed."

Regina stood behind Henry and placed her hands on his shoulders. He could almost hear her heartbeat picking up. He leaned back against her, unsure whether he was supporting her or she was supporting him. Maybe it was both. Maybe it didn't matter.

"He's a coward using a child as a weapon," Ruby said. She wore a peculiar expression on her face, one that contained sadness and regret and several other emotions that he couldn't place.

Regina's grip tightened. "Unfortunately, he is a clever coward." She dropped her hands from Henry's shoulders. "Why don't you go upstairs, Henry? We have some things we need to discuss."

"No." He turned to face her, scowling. "I know you're going to talk about me. I deserve to know what's going on."

A pained expression crossed Regina's face. He felt a pang of guilt; he didn't want anyone to hurt anymore. She bent over so that they were face to face and said, "I don't want to worry you. It will take awhile to figure out what we are going to do. When we do, I promise you I will tell you. Until then, will you please go to your room?"

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Henry's frown lessened. He nodded. "Okay. I trust you." He wasn't sure who he said that for, himself or his mother, but a weight he didn't know he carried lessened when he said it and realized it was truer than it had been before. The way his mother's face lit up, the way her breath hitched, the tears that sprang to her eyes told him it didn't matter who it had been for - it helped both of them.

"Thank you, Henry," Regina said softly.

He ducked his head, embarrassed by the emotion rolling over him at the sight of her so grateful. "Can I take my plate upstairs?"

Food had never been allowed in rooms other than the kitchen, and it surprised him when she nodded and said, "Of course."

He headed up the stairs with his plate. He hesitated on the stairs, debating whether he should try to eavesdrop, but Ruby said, "I know you're there, Henry."

Frowning, he trudged to his room.

. . .

An hour later, Regina and Emma entered Henry's room. They sat on his bed with grim expressions. and he felt his insides churn.

"We talked it over with Ruby, and we think it would be best if you didn't go around town by yourself anymore," Emma said.

"Why?" Henry demanded. Emma hesitated. He turned to Regina, angry and pleading. "You promised you wouldn't lie to me."

He could see her reluctance, but she said, "We're afraid someone might hurt you. There is a lot of prejudice towards werewolves - no matter how old they are. In the other world...in the Enchanted Forest...it was not uncommon for villages to hunt them down, no matter how long they had known those people. We want to keep you safe."

Henry's gaze drifted to the floor. The information sank into his brain, settling heavily on his shoulders. His chest tightened. His heart beat sped up, pumping adrenaline through his veins. "You think someone will try to kill me?" His voice sounded odd to his ears. The words flowed smoothly off his tongue, but they didn't feel as though they came from his mouth. "I haven't done anything. I haven't hurt anyone. Why...?" But didn't matter if he had done anything, did it? His mother hadn't killed Archie, had even saved Emma and Mary Margaret at the risk of her own life. That hadn't stopped him or Emma from believing she had done it. All the citizens of Storybrooke needed were to believe that he, a werewolf, were capable of harming people. And he was. That was what he was afraid of from the moment he realized what the bite had meant.

That was what he done last night.

Regina and Emma didn't answer him. He leaned over, resting his crossed arms on his knees and placing his forehead against his arms. He took deep breaths. His head felt light, and the room titled unsteadily around him. Regina moved closer and wrapped an arm around him.

"I won't let anyone harm you. I promise."

"I believe you," he said. If he kept saying he might just believe it. It wasn't a matter of whether she would let anyone harm him. If the whole town converged on him, would she even be able to stop them? Would she be hurt in the process? Killed even? His stomach churned. He tasted bile in the back of his throat. People had tried to kill Regina when the curse broke. If she got between him and an angry mob, she would be killed. "I believe you... I think I'm gonna be sick."

He lurched to the bathroom and collapsed to his knees in front of the toilet just as his stomach heaved.

. . .

Snow had made herself, David and Ruby mugs of tea and coffee, but the cups grew cold in front of them as they all sat around the kitchen island in silence. None of them could do more than sip at their mugs.

David broke the silence. "I should have killed him when I had the chance."

"No, David." Snow wrapped a hand around her mug and held it tight. "Murder isn't the answer. We'll find another way. King George will never be able to convince people to hurt an innocent child." She had known these people, fought wars with these people. Many of the citizens of Storybrooke had fought alongside her, David and Ruby against King George. They wouldn't join his side now. They wouldn't hurt her grandson.

"I had only just become an adult when my village hunted me," Ruby said. "And they had all known me since I was born. That didn't matter after I became a werewolf. Granny tried to get me to be allowed home, but I had killed people. They said they could never trust a monster."

"But Henry hasn't killed anyone."

"Not yet."

Snow gasped. "What are you saying? I thought you were training him so that would never happen."

"I am, but it doesn't matter. He hasn't gotten control yet, and all people need to believe is that there is a possibility he'll hurt people." She took a sip of her coffee and made a face. Snow was about to offer her a new cup, one that wasn't cold, when Ruby continued. "Henry is in danger. It doesn't matter if he's a kid. People will turn on him. Especially with Regina being his mother."

"But Emma is his mother. He's my grandson," Snow said.

"Regina's his mother too. She's been his mother a lot longer than Emma has," Ruby said.

Snow hated the casual way Ruby spoke. Regina had taken Emma from her, destroyed Emma's childhood and left her with emotional wounds that ran so deep Snow wasn't sure they could ever be healed. And while she was willing to put aside the fighting for Henry's sake, it didn't stop the anger that simmered inside her at Regina for taking away her grandson too. She wished for nothing more than to be able to take Henry away from Regina, away from harm, and for him to live with his rightful family, the family he should have known had Regina not destroyed their lives.

Ruby shrugged. "Like it or not, he won't be viewed as your grandson anymore to some people. All they'll see is a werewolf and the son of the Evil Queen that cursed us all here."

"But that's not true," David said. He leaned forward, speaking earnestly. "As long as Henry can learn to control himself, people will see that he's no threat. They'll back off just like they did with you."

Ruby shook her head. "They backed off because you protected me and told everyone that I'd been framed by King George. They weren't willing to back a murderer. The prejudices those people have against werewolves haven't disappeared. Even if no one backs King George, he might be able to spread enough hatred that someone else will lead the mob. He'll get what he wants anyway even if no one will follow him."

A tense silence filled the room. Snow stared at her coffee, thinking hard. Could Ruby be right? She didn't want to believe that she could, but something stirred in the back of her mind. An old memory, somewhat faded, tugged at her conscious. She closed her eyes, hoping to help her recall the memory that flitted just beyond her ability to catch it. After a moment, it came back to her: the werewolves living underground, dirty and hate-filled. She hadn't given them much thought when she met them; she had been too busy running from Regina and her guards. She had all but forgotten about them by the time the fighting had stopped, and she had a moment to breathe and think. Would Henry end up like them? Living in a cave or a sunken castle somewhere, hiding from those who hunted him and losing his connection to humanity?

"We'll have to keep an eye on Henry at all times then. Just in case." David crossed his arms and leaned against the table with a tired sigh. "We'll need to take turns dropping Henry off at school in the morning. I'm sure Emma will be able to pick him up in the afternoon."

"Do you think Henry will understand what we're dealing with? He's a smart boy, but..." Snow trailed off, unsure how to finish her thought.

"You don't give him enough credit." Ruby frowned. "Like you said, he's smart. He'll understand. Regina and Emma are talking to him about it now."

"I hope he does."

Snow gripped her cup in her hands, and the image of the werewolves rose up in her mind once more.