AN: So the first time I heard Emma explain her "superpower", I instantly thought of a show I loved, Lie to Me. (It's on Netflix!) And then I couldn't see Emma's superpower any differently, and it rather broke my heart.
Everyone in Storybrooke has been caught in a lie by Emma. It doesn't matter how good a liar they are. It doesn't matter if Emma knows them well, or if they've met once before. Her superpower rarely fails her and the entire town can't help but grumble about it.
"Bloody hell." Hook sets down his pint and rubs his forehead with his hook. "She's impossible."
"I know." Mary Margaret shakes her head, watching as Neal and Robin play in the playpen she'd erected earlier. "I mean, she's my daughter and I love her, but it's not easy."
"Trying being her kid." Henry interjects. "Violet thinks I'm crazy, but it's because she doesn't know."
"I don't even get away with it." Regina looks baffled. "And I'm me! The evil queen!"
"Aye, and I'm the Dark One." Gold returns with Gideon in a fresh diaper and Belle beams, cooing at her son. "I can't even get slip one past her."
"It's a savior thing." Ruby insists. "It has to be."
"No, because she had this before she even came to Storybrooke, remember?" David points out.
"She was still the savior then, she just didn't know it then." Mary Margaret reminds him.
"It's annoying." Hook gestures for the coffee and Ruby goes to get him a mug. "I can't hide anything from her. How am I suppose to surprise her?"
"You don't." David chuckles. "Emma hates surprises."
"Wait." Zelena is looking at all of them, skeptical. "Are you saying she's caught all of you in a lie?"
"Yeah."
"Yup."
"Uh huh."
"Multiple times."
"Well, it can't be that big of a deal." Zelena waves a hand. "You're all just awful liars then."
"Excuse you?" Both Gold and Regina lean forward with incredulous looks.
"It's because you're close to her then." Zelena decides. "She can read you better."
"No, it's not." Leroy remarks, from the booth behind them. "She can do it to me, and all the dwarves."
"It's everyone in the whole town." Henry insists. "She can tell when anyone is lying."
"I don't believe it." Zelena rolls her eyes.
"Ask her yourself then." Regina states, as the bell to Granny's rings and Emma strides in, smiling at all of them.
"Not waiting on me, I see." She remarks, seeing the dirty plates and half full glasses.
"Everything quiet?" Hook asks, kissing her cheek as she slides in next to him.
"Yeah." She pulls her gloves and hat off, shaking out her long blonde hair. "It's nice having more help in the station. Ruby, can I have the soup?"
"Of course!" Ruby disappears into the back and Emma glances around at her suddenly quiet family.
"What?"
"Zelena doesn't believe in your superpower." Henry tells her and Emma glances Zelena's way.
"What about it?" She asks bluntly.
"You can tell when anyone is lying?" Zelena lets her skepticism bleed into her words. "Anyone at all?"
"Yeah." Emma shrugs. "I always have been, since I was a kid."
"How?" Regina asks, not unkindly and Emma pauses, thinking about it.
"I don't know really, I guess it's just something in their faces." She says slowly. "Like, something there gives it away. Don't you guys see it?"
"No." Most of them shake their heads, but Belle has a thoughtful expression.
"Oh. Well, then I guess maybe it's a savior thing." Emma smiles when Ruby reappears with her soup and a side of crackers. "Well then, what's everyone been up to?"
"Henry." Belle beckons for him before they all depart to their respective homes. Gold stands by the door, putting Gideon's hat on, tactfully pretending to not hear anything.
"What's up?" He asks, walking over with a quizzical expression.
"Come to the library tomorrow?" Belle requests.
"Sure. Need me to watch Gideon?" He asks, glancing at the little boy.
"No." Belle bits her lip. "I want to research your mom's superpower. I want to see if it's a savior thing or what other powers she might have."
"Why?"
"Curiosity." Belle's eyes sparkle. "I love a good mystery."
"I'll be there." Henry assures her and she grins, patting his cheek, before taking Gold's arm and disappearing into the night.
The next morning, Henry heads over to the library, letting himself in. Belle is already wandering down the aisles, grabbing books.
"Hi!" She calls. "I'm pulling stuff that might help!"
"Or," Henry says, finding a squashy chair and pulling a tablet out of his backpack. "We could consult the great internet."
"I will stick with my books, thank you very much." Belle says primly, and Henry grins at her. They settle into quiet, companionable silence, both of them utterly comfortable with a well established routine. After nearly of an hour of silence, Henry, eyebrows furrowed, calls out for Belle.
"I think I found something."
"Me too." Belle is wandering towards him, a book in her hands. "This is a book written by a doctor from Washington D.C."
"Dr. Cal Lightman?" Henry guesses and Belle looks up, surprised. "Yeah, I'm reading an article from him right now."
"What does your article say?" Belle asks, sitting down next to him.
"It talks about this program he runs, about people that he calls truth wizards." Henry makes a face. "Are we sure he's not from the enchanted forest?"
"No truth wizards that I can remember." Belle smiles. "Just… Wizards. But it says in here that some people are just naturally gifted with the ability to spot micro expressions."
"Yeah, those are in here too." Henry scrolls down a little further. "About how they can ready body language. He talks about how anyone can do it, with a lot of training."
"Does he say where?" Belle jokes and Henry glances at her.
"Hey Belle, can I ask why you wanted to research all this?" He asks gently. "I mean, I know you were curious. But why really?"
"Your grandfather," Belle sits aside her book carefully and glances at him. "Is a good man. A very good man. But the ability to tell when he's lying, every time, with just a glance?" She looks at him imploringly and Henry nods in understanding, then turns back to his tablet.
"Hey, the next section is about people that are naturals. That's what my mom is, right?"
"Yeah." Belle moves to stand behind him, reading over his shoulder. "What's it say?"
"Oh." Henry's stomach begins to sink as he reads further and Belle gasps, one hand covering her mouth, while the other comes to rest on Henry's shoulder, squeezing him for reassurance. When he finishes reading, they exchange horrified expressions, then both dive for their cell phones.
"We called you here for a reason." Henry declares, to quiet his family. Mary Margaret and David sit on the couch, looking at him in concern, while Belle sits near Mr. Gold, her mouth a grim twist. Regina is on the floor with Neal, but she's watching Henry out of the corner of her eye, and Hook stands, polishing his hook.
"We learned something about Emma's superpower." Belle pips up.
"Are we still on that?" Regina questions, sighing. "It's just a trick or something, she probably got good at it when she was chasing down cons."
"That's the thing." Henry takes a deep breath. "She was good at that job because of her superpower. And she got her superpower a long time before it."
"Have you been reading too many comics lately?" David jokes. "You don't get superpowers Henry, not here."
"It's not a superpower." Belle says quietly. "It's a skill and Emma learned it."
"It's a real thing." Henry holds up the book Belle had been reading. "It's a real thing and a few other people can do it. Some people, like the guy that wrote this book, trained themselves. But some people are naturals, like Emma."
"So what you're saying is that Emma, on top of being born as the savior and sent over here by magic, was born with a lie detector in her?" Mary Margaret raises an eyebrow. "Isn't that like getting struck by lightening three times in a row?"
"You're not born with it." Henry repeats, a little frustrated. "You learn it, but Emma learned it without knowing she learned it. That's what makes her a natural."
"How do you learn something without knowing you're learning it?" Hook demands.
"Ok." Belle stands, holding up her hands. "Apparently, humans have micro expressions. Naturals, like Emma, can read those expressions. They know when anyone is lying. But Emma learned this as a kid."
"Why?" Gold asks, soothing a fussing Gideon. "Was it because she was the savior?"
"No." Abruptly, Henry leaves the room.
"What's wrong?" Mary Margaret demands, looking to Belle.
"There's something else we found out." Belle bits her lip. "I called the man who wrote this book, Dr. Lightman. He asked me a couple questions about Emma, about her past."
"And did you tell him that she comes from the magical, enchanted forest, and that she's secretly a magic wielding savior?" Regina snorts.
"No." Belle says honestly. "I told him about how she grew up in foster care, how she didn't know about her true family until she was 28, how she spent time in prison. And then he told me that she was likely a natural, and that people, like her, they learn to read these micro expressions at a young age. People that are… In… Abusive environments… From a young age… They have a higher percentage of becoming naturals."
A silence rushes in after Belle finishes talking. Mary Margaret, midway to grabbing her cup of tea, has frozen. David, at her side, has his eyes fixed on some point behind Belle, eyes glazed over. Hook is leaning against the wall, now pale.
"So you're telling me," Regina's voice has just the slightest tremor in it. "That Emma was abused, as a child, and now she knows when people are lying?"
"No," Belle shakes her head. "No, he explained it better to me. She didn't learn to tell when someone's lying, she learned to read the tiny expressions humans have. He described it as a defense mechanism, like when you stop touching something hot. She figured out how to watch out for the expressions that last a quarter of a second on someone's face and learned to read those. Abuse victims are often masters at reading faces, and this is where Emma gets that superpower from."
"Oh my god." Mary Margaret rushes to the bathroom and David slides to the floor, grabbing Neal.
"We can't tell her we know." Hook breaks the silence with a firm directive. "She doesn't need to know. She doesn't need to relive that. She's got what she thinks is a superpower. As far as Swan knows, we believe that. We don't tell her about any of this."
"Why not?" Gold glances at him. "It's her right to have an explanation."
"And what, ask 'Hey Emma, were you abused as a child, and now you can tell when we're lying?' Great plan." Regina snaps.
"We're not telling her." Henry walks back out, eyes rimmed red. "We're not. And when she can tell we're lying to her about it, we'll lie and say we were planning a surprise party for her birthday."
"Listen to the lad." Hook urges. "It's his mother."
"It's my daughter." David looks up, still cradling Neal close. "My daughter, and I should've protected her."
"You did." Regina looks at him. "If you would've kept her, I would've killed her and you. So no matter what happened, she had the chance to grow up and find us all. That counts for something. Even if she didn't have the childhood you could've given her."
"This is the worst possible explanation for her gifts." Gold shakes his head, standing and kissing Belle's head. "But we'll keep it from Emma, if that's what's best."
"Hey guys." Emma walks in, seemingly surprised at the sight of her whole family in the living room. Hook pulls her into a hug, kissing her forehead. "What's everyone over here for?"
"No reason." Mary Margaret gives her an over-bright smile.
"Yeah it was." Emma frowns slightly. "You're lying to me, I can tell."
"We were just planning a party, thought we might surprise you." Henry says quickly, to distract from how her words make her parents flinch.
"Oh." A little surprised, Emma slips off her jacket and throws it on a hook. "Well, sorry I blew the surprise. But I just want to spend my birthday with my family, that's enough!"
"Ok." David pulls her into a hug to hide the tears in his eyes. "We'd like that too."
AN: Ok that's all, pretty different than what I normally do, but hey, let me know what you think?