"You know you're really bad at running!" David called to Spencer as he and Ruby got out of the police car. King George stood still, blankly staring into a flaming fire.
"I wasn't trying to run," He spoke still not turning around to meet eyes with his son. "I wanted you to find me."
"So I can take you to a jail cell where you belong?" David questioned.
"How could you kill Gus!" Ruby blurted.
"He was a mouse!"
"He was a person! Just like you or me." David shouted, trying to defend Ruby.
"You can go ahead and lock me up James, but you still need to feel my pain. Feel the pain of what it's like to have no family!" He roared, finally turning to face David and Ruby.
"What are you talking about? My wife and daughter got sucked into a void! I have no freaking idea if they are even alive!" David cried back. Just the thought of Snow and Emma brought tears to his eyes. But he would not give King George the satisfaction of seeing his pain. King George lifted his head.
"Oh they are alive, boy, and I have no doubt in my mind they'll come back." He said with full seriousness.
"How do you know that?" Ruby wondered.
"There is a lot of things I know that you don't."
David was flustered with thoughts by Spencer's statement. Were they really alive? Or was King George just messing with his head? David tried to push those thoughts away for now.
"So what're you going to do, huh? You're all alone and without magic!" David shot back.
"Am I really all alone?"
David's heart skipped a beat. They were in the woods late at night. Who else-or what else-could be out there?
"See James," Spencer continued. "I needed away to pull on your heart strings, give you the pain that I felt. And to do that I needed some help."
David was about over the edge. The suspense was killing him. He suddenly drew his gun, aiming it straight at Spencer.
"David, stop!" Ruby yelled.
David ignored her and kept the gun trained on his father.
"I'd listen to the wolf." Spencer snarled. Then he turned over his shoulder and called into the forest. "Oh Mr. Gold! Would you please come out here!"
Ruby's eyes widened and David could barely control himself. The cruel face of Rumblestiltskin emerged from the thick underbrush of Storybrooks' forest. Then suddenly, it felt like time itself had frozen. David's heart nearly stopped as he saw who Gold had with him.
"Henry." David muttered, losing his grip on the gun.
"David!" Henry cried. For a ten year old boy who had just been abducted, he didn't look all that frightened. He looked more annoyed than scared.
Mr. Gold held him firmly by the upper arm and dragged him towards the group. Ruby was so speechless she could only stare at the poor struggling boy. David was in the same state as she.
King George smiled a wicked, cruel smile at David. Evil flashed in his eyes as he took hold of Henry. Gripping the boy by his hair, he tilted his head back. Henry groaned at the pain of his head being yanked back. Spencer then whipped out a gun and pushed it roughly under Henry's chin.
"No!" David screamed as he started to charge at King George.
"David, stop!" Ruby cried, pushing David back. "Don't do anything rash."
David looked at her with pleading eyes. They were welling up with tears and sorrow. He had already lost Emma and Mary Margret; he was not going to lose Henry too.
David calmed himself enough to nod at Ruby. He then looked back up, not taking his eyes off of Henry. The poor boy struggled in the old man's vise like grip.
David gave him a sad look. If he could, he would have swapped places with Henry in a second. But he knew his father wouldn't be satisfied with killing him. He needed to make David suffer.
Ruby stepped forward. "Why are you doing this Gold? What could you possibly gain from this?"
"Well you see, Miss Red," He began. "Spencer and I have a lot in common. We've both lost a son. I'm merely doing this out of grief and for a reasonable price." Gold said in his low, rough voice that would make your blood curtail.
"You are sick twisted men! Harming a child like this!" Ruby shouted back. She was becoming so angry herself that her wolf eyes flashed in the darkness.
"Well you see, we've lost a son, and now it's time for David to do the same. Or in his case, a grandson."
David then realized he still had his gun trained on Spencer.
"What if I were to kill you right now?" David asked, holding the gun so tight his knuckles turned blue.
"It wouldn't matter. The boy would die anyway. You would just speed up the process." King George smirked.
David lowered his gun and looked back down at Henry.
"I'm sorry Henry." David said, tears beginning to sting his eyes. Meanwhile, Henry's expression hadn't changed. 'How is braver than me?' David wondered.
"It's not your fault," Henry said. "They're just evil and will always be evil. But it's okay...because good always wins!"
"That's enough out of you!" Spencer growled, tightening his grip on Henry's hair, causing the boy to wince. "Now, that that's out of the way, let's get down to business."
Spencer suddenly shoved Henry to the ground and aimed his gun.
"No!" David cried, tears now streaming down his cheeks. Ruby had to hold him back to stop him from getting himself shot as well.
Henry leaned on his elbows and looked up at his great grandfather. He refused to show any signs if weakness or worry. Spencer cocked the gun, aiming in directly at Henry's chest.
"Any last words, boy?"
"No!" David continued to scream as he fought to get away from Ruby.
"You won't win. Good will always find a way." Henry said those sentences with so much pride, he sounded like a true hero.
King George smirked, "In your dreams."
His finger slowly pushed back the trigger. Just as he fired, it sprang.
It had jumped out of nowhere and clamped onto King George's arm, causing him to misfire and hit a tree instead. He cried out in pain dropping the gun as he stumbled backwards with the beast on top of him. The thing moved with such speed and agility, that it looked like a giant blur in the blackness of the night. David acted quickly, seeing the gun on the ground. Gold had seen it too. The two glanced at each other before lunging for the gun. David had grabbed it first. As he stood, he aimed the guy at Gold. Gold slowly put his hands in the air, seeing that he was defeated.
Cries and yelps came in the direction of where Spencer was dragged by the creature. The thing snarled and growled as it began ripping him limb from limb. Henry watched in horror from where he lay as the beast began gulping down the evil king. Ruby ran over and helped Henry to his feet, pulling him away from the beast.
Ruby pulled Henry into her, willing him to no longer watch the man be eaten alive. David simply ignored his cries as he continued to death glare at Mr. Gold. Then...the yelling ceased. The forest fell silent again. All that could be heard were the chirping crickets, the fire crackling, and the heavy breathing of the beast. Ruby released her embrace on Henry and he turned around to look at the monster who had torn apart his great grandfather.
The beast began to walk forward, approaching them. It's furry mane and large black nose made Ruby smile.
"Quinn? Is that you?" She asked.
Quinn was one of her dearest friends. He was the one who had found her and brought her to her mother and the rest of the wolf pack. She had lost him when the curse hit and hadn't seen him sense.
"Who?" David asked her looking over his shoulder.
"He's an old friend." She clarified.
"Cool." Henry said, as he looked into the wolfs gleaming eyes. He had never been this close to a wolf before. He almost had to restrain himself from reaching out and petting him.
Quinn's figure suddenly began to shake. His fur glistened and the outline of a person began to take its form. A second later, a man dressed in silky red clothing stood in front of them.
"Red!" He gasped with a wide smile.
"Oh Quinn!" She said, running up and giving him a hug.
"I've missed you Red! Where have you been?" He asked.
"I was living in the town. When the curse hit I lost my ability to turn wolf." She confessed.
"But you have it back now, seeing that you are wearing the cloak."
She smiled, "Yes. But why have I not seen you around the town?"
"Well it was quite the opposite for the rest of us. When the curse hit instead of losing out ability to become wolf-"
"You lost the ability to become human!" She finished.
"Exactly! So we've been living deep in the woods."
"Well thank you for saving Henry." She said.
"My pleasure," He paused and looked over to David. "And I hope you don't mind that I ate your father. After watching all that went on, I just had the urge to kill him."
"Actually, I don't mind at all." David said as he finished handcuffing Gold and began leading him to the police car.
Quinn turned back to Red. "So you want to go for a run? I'm sure the pack would love to see you again."
Red hesitated then called over to David.
"You need any more help tonight?"
David had just finished putting Gold into the cop car when he turned to Red.
"Nope, I'm good. You go ahead and have fun Red."
She gave him a smile and quickly took off her cloak. She folded it up and handed it to Henry.
"Give this to gran and tell her I'll be back at dawn, okay?"
Henry nodded.
With that, Quinn and Red shape-shifted into their wolf selves and took off in furry blurs up towards the hills. Henry smiled and turned to go to the car but found himself running right into David.
David crouched down in front of Henry with the same look of sorrow he had before. Without a word, David wrapped him into a tight embrace. Henry accepted it with no hesitation and hugged him back.
After a few moments of silence, David sighed.
"I'm sorry this had to happen to you. I'm sorry I dragged you into it."
"You didn't drag me into it. You couldn't control what your father did. It isn't your fault!" Henry tried to reassure him.
"But it is! If I had just left you with Regina, you would have never gotten taken." David retaliated. Part of being a prince was taking responsibility for your actions and that was exactly what David was trying to do. Why did the kid have to be so logical, though? He was making it really hard for David to pin the blame on himself.
"No!" Henry cried, pulling out of the hug but keeping his hands placed on David's shoulders. "Stop saying that! I'm the one who didn't lock the door after you left!"
David ignored him. "Look, kid, maybe it's best if you go back to live with your mom."
"No! I can't! I love staying with you! And you still have to teach me how to use a sword, and ride a horse, and be a knight!" Henry cried and hugged David into a tight embrace again, burring his head in his grandpas shoulder.
David sighed, "Look, kid-"
"Please." Henry's plead was muffled in Davids shirt.
David pulled him back and looked him straight in the eyes.
"You really want to give me a second chance?"
Henry smiled and nodded.
"Okay then, you're officially stuck with me!" David declared with a smile as he stood.
Henry stood as well. "Good."
"Come on let's go home." David said, throwing an arm around Henry as they walked to the car.
"You know," David began. "You were really brave back there. Almost like a true knight."
"So does that mean I'm ready to use a real sword now?" Henry asked excitedly.
David laughed as he ruffled Henrys hair. "We'll see kid, we'll see."

The End