Emma's face was flush from the jog she had just unintentionally taken. Something had come up down at the station and, with the Bug being out of commission for the time being, she had been forced to walk along the streets of Storybrooke. David had called her just as she was finishing cleaning up her apartment. Only after the dispute between Granny and Ruby had been resolved did Emma remember that she had promised Henry to pick him up after school. Hastily explaining the situation to her father, David waved her off and thanked her for coming in on her day off.

And so, here she was, arriving ten minutes later than she should have. A few uniformed children played on the playground just next to the school watchfully observed by their parents nearby. Emma searched the scene for the floppy brown head of hair and goofy smile she looked forward to seeing at the end of every day.

But he wasn't there.

Trying to remain calm, she took a few steps closer to the playground, looking amongst the colorful poles and bridges for her son. And then she changed positions so she could search the crowd of parents nearby. That kid's sense of curiosity would send her to the nuthouse one day. She wouldn't be surprised if he had wandered over to the parents to ask someone like August about their life in the Enchanted Forest. Nowhere in the sea of bobbing heads of his classmates and the stationary legs of their parents did she see Henry. That's when panic began to set in.

"I'm going to kill that kid," she muttered to herself as she headed towards the school building.

Of course this would happen now. Soon after their triumphant return from Neverland, she and Regina had come to terms with parenting Henry as a team. They were cordial and even enjoyed each other's company sometimes. But, like any agreement in its early stages, something like this could be detrimental. Emma couldn't afford to think about what Regina would insist upon if she found out that she hadn't been at the schoolyard to pick up their son, let alone lost him.

The hallways of Storybrooke Elementary were oddly quiet. The only sounds she heard were issued from herself, gasps and pants resulting from running towards her mother's classroom.

"Hey, Mary Margaret," Emma said once she reached her mother's classroom. She bent over so her hands rested on her knees in an attempt to catch her breath. "Have you seen Henry?"

Snow looked up from the papers she was grading on her desk. Shaking her head, she replied, "Not since class this morning. What's the matter?" Emma just shook her head and began to exit before grabbing the door frame and yelling "Thanks!" over her shoulder. As she returned the way she came, she thought about her plan of action. Until she was absolutely sure that Henry had gone missing, she wasn't going to worry her parents about him. And, unless the circumstances were dire, Regina would never hear of this.

From the school building, Emma ran back to the sheriff's station. In such a small town, the possibility of Henry discovering she had been called in was pretty high, and he was smart enough to hop on the train of thought she was currently riding. She was barely in the door of the station when David stood up from his desk. He could tell by the way she failed to yell a greeting that something was up.

"What's wrong? Where's Henry?" he asked. Emma whirled around without so much as a word. Her father sat back down. After a moment of thought, he picked up the phone and called his wife. Maybe she had a better idea what was going on. And, if not, she was the ear that would listen to his concern.

"C'mon, c'mon," Emma said to herself as she made her way back to her apartment building. Never before had she sprinted as hurriedly as she was now. That was saying something, considering her previous employment record. From those experiences and her time in pretty much every metropolitan area in the country, she knew that first couple hours after a person's disappearance were the most critical. Regina being on the other end of this predicament made the situation even more urgent. When they found their son, and it was a 'when' because finding people was Emma's specialty, Regina would take all of her newly acquired, eleven-years-late rights to Henry being in her life. If that happened…well, she couldn't allow herself to think like that.

Upon arrival at her building, Emma leaped up the steps to her third floor apartment at least three at a time. She kicked in the door to her apartment and let it slam shut behind her. A quick glance about the common rooms proved it to be empty, just as she figured. Her last hope lay in Henry's afternoon routine. Every afternoon after school, he came home, got a snack from the kitchen, and went to his room to start his homework. If he wasn't in there, she would call David and inform him of the situation. He would share it with Mary Margaret and then Emma would be forced to call Regina.

Needless to say, Henry had better be in his room.

With hope beyond belief, she slowly cracked open the door to her son's bedroom.

She found the bed made, the floor clean, and nothing out of place. In other words, empty.

Returning to the common areas, Emma ran her hands through her hair in frustration. As if the fact she had been absent from the first eleven years of her own son's life wasn't enough, he just had to vanish on her watch. But, only just now, the idea of Henry being kidnapped again occurred to her. Oh God, she couldn't go through that pain again. It would be the third time she would have lost him, and dammit, how could she let that happen so many times?

Pulling her hands down her face and groaning at the kitchen counter, she became aware of a small tittering. Almost like stifled giggles. She whipped around to look at the couch, her blond hair following her head's movement moments later, where she found two heads peeping over the back. One head sported tantalizingly black hair and eyes sparkling like ocean blue jewels. The other had the floppy dark brown hair and green brown eyes she had been searching for anxiously.

"Oh my god kid," she exhaled, running over and gripping him tightly. She tucked her head into the crook of his neck and mumbled, "Don't ever do that again."

"Mom, it's okay," Henry said into her shoulder. "You're kinda squishing me." Emma sniffed to avoid shedding tears of joy, but loosened her hold on her son. Then, pulling back, she smacked him with little force on the head.

"Hey!" he yelped as Killian laughed next to him. "What was that about?"

"You know, kid, I thought you were smart enough not to walk off from school without telling someone where you were going," she scolded him, her years of bail bondsman-ship coming in handy once again. "You could've at least told Mary Margaret you were heading back here. And then you think it's funny to hide when I come in here?"

Henry pointed at Killian. "It was his idea."

Finally, she turned her attention to the pirate she couldn't believe was still in town. "And what are you doing here?" she asked incredulously.

He shifted uncomfortably on the couch. "I was actually waiting for you at the schoolyard," he confessed, his only hand rubbing his thigh subconsciously. "The lad came up to me when the bell rang and when you didn't appear, I just thought it best to bring him home."

Henry nodded enthusiastically, before adding "Yeah! Killian was just telling me the story of when he first got the Jolly Roger and had to fight mermaids off when they first reached Neverland!" Emma stood up and ruffled her son's hair before pulling him into a side hug.

"Well, sorry to interrupt that fantastic tale, but homework comes first." Henry opened his mouth to complain, but she stopped him with "You owe me that much for giving me a heart attack." His mouth closed, he headed off to the kitchen to grab a snack. Both Killian and Emma watched him sulk into his room and close the door.

"I'm sorry for all unease and distress I seemed to have caused," Killian apologized as he heard the door click into place. He stood up from the couch and stepped away as she headed towards the kitchen. "I just thought it better if the lad came back with someone instead of just standing there alone to wait for you."

Emma sighed as she opened the fridge in search of something to drink. "Thank you, Killian," she said, taking out the orange juice and finding a cup and some vodka in the cupboard. Emma held the alcohol up in his direction. He held up his hand and shook his head in response. She stared at him in disbelief. Since when did a pirate, especially one with such notoriety as Captain Hook, turn down a drink?

Changing the subject, Killian asked her, "So what emergency pulled you away from your lovely lad?"

Emma came back to her senses and began pouring herself that well-deserved drink. "Dispute down at Granny's. Something about Ruby stealing money from the register, but it got all figured out," she explained. "David thought I would be better suited to solve something like that, so he called me in. I kinda lost track of time and when I got to the school, Henry just wasn't there." She took a sip from her cup, decided it wasn't nearly strong enough, and added another good shot to the concoction. Then she turned to her guest. "I really am grateful you brought him home."

Killian shrugged and took a seat at the counter. "I figured it was for the best, considering recent circumstances." He fiddled with the hook he still wore out of habit, as if he was wondering whether or not to pursue another topic. She tilted her head in curiosity.

"It was," she said softly, a wave of confusion and realization breaking over her, "but that doesn't explain why you were there in the first place." He met her gaze over the island as she leaned back on the counter next to the fridge. "Why were you waiting for me?"

Killian's eyes went back down to his hook and hand twisting on the countertop before standing up and shuffling over to her. Her eyes widened just a tad and she straightened her back in case immediate action was needed, but he didn't seem to notice.

"I was merely hoping to be in your presence, love," he started, face still casted downward, "and that you might care to accompany me to one of those moving pictures of yours in the near future?"

She was taken aback, to say the least. First he admits to just wanting to be around her, so much so that he was willing to seem, no, be creepy while waiting for her when she picked up Henry that afternoon. Second, did he just ask her on a date?

"Did you just ask me on a date? Did I hear that right?"

Now, he looked up, focusing on her eyes with his. The vibrant blue shimmering at her always managed to throw her off a little and caused her heart to speed up, sure, but she could never begin to understand the effects her beautiful hazel eyes had on him.

"I'm not quite sure I know exactly what that means, but I think the sentiment is still the same," he responded. She searched his expression for any sign of joking or lying, but everything there was genuine, as always seemed to be the case with him. It frightened her to no end.

And yet…

"It would be my pleasure, Captain," she said, a grin spreading across her face. Emma was greatly rewarded for her answer when a smile twice as wide decorated his face and bled into his eyes.

But nothing could compare to the joy Killian felt when she yelped as he took her into his arms, lifted her from the ground, and spun her around her own kitchen.

"If your despairing at the disappearance of your son will guarantee a favorable answer, I'll be sure to make your lad worry you more often," he told her when he finally placed her back on the floor. She playfully slapped him on the shoulder, stepping back a bit, but not completely leaving his embrace. His arms still wound around her waist and her arms rested on his shoulders.

"If Henry ever goes missing again, I don't care if you have nothing to do with it, you're going to pay," she threatened

Quirking his eyebrow in the infuriating way only he could manage, he inquired, "Is that a promise, love?"

a/n: hope you guys enjoyed this one. im kind of a sucker for parent/child relationships. but also captain swan. basically, i was a mess writing this. my feels were all over the place. i should have the next part of Shower Streams up in a couple days, but this is just something to tide you over. or introduce you to me. hi. comments and thoughts are always appreciated. have a wonderful weekend. muah. :)