So I have been playing with the idea of Graham being the Doctor's greatest creation for awhile now, and this is what came out. First it was intended to be a Graham/Swan/Hook triangle, but it just got too romantic for that. Enjoy!
Graham gasped for air as the life came back into him. Opening his eyes he looked around him to find Dr. Whale and Mary Margaret by his sides. But it wasn't Mary Magaret. It was Snow White. The memories that Emma had brought to the surface were now flooding him. He was a hunter, this was not his world, but somewhere else completely. Storybrooke was a fantasy, their real lives had been stripped of them.
"Snow?" he asked.
Snow's eyes flashed as her face broke into a smile. "It worked, it really worked. How did you do it?" she asked facing the doctor.
"As with many things it's about the perfect combination of science and magic, Princess," Whale answered looking down at his creation. Unlike before, Graham was already doing much better than his other specimens. No, this time he perfected it. This creation was better than any of the rest.
"What happened? Where's Emma?" Graham said, confused by the conversation that was taking place in front of him. The last thing he remembered before waking up here was Emma, the station, and then the pain.
Snow frowned, "The Queen, she… she killed you. She took your heart and turned it to dust. You were on to her, on to the curse, so she stopped you."
"How?" Graham said referring to the fact that he was very much alive.
"Science," Whale told him. "An artificial heart and a bit of magic, that's all it took. You can call me Dr. Frankenstein, or Victor, Sheriff."
"Conan. That's the name that was given to me long ago," the huntsman told them. "How have I never heard of you doctor?"
"Means wolf, appropriate," the doctor remarked. "My land and yours are not one in the same, I came to your land for magic and was there when the spell took over."
Graham was still confused about what was going on; how things had changed so drastically since he was last breathing. And he still hadn't been told about where Emma was. She saved him; she broke the curse for him. "Both names suit me the same, as long as no one calls me… that again."
"The huntsman," Snow finished. He nodded and she placed a hand on his. "You saved my life once, you gave me a chance to find true happiness. I didn't forget that, Graham. Once I returned to Storybrooke and heard of what the doctor could do I had to have him try, this time with even better technology than ever before."
Graham nodded, understanding completely. Even though it had sealed his fate, forced him into the servitude of the Queen, he would never regret the decision that he had made that day. He had done anything in his power to help the innocent; his morals would not allow him anything else. "Where is she?" he asked as he tried to get up from the bed that he was revived in.
"Not so fast, you have to give the heart some time to catch up, remain seated at least for awhile, then we can try walking," the Doctor told Graham, not wanting to push the artificial heart too much too soon. He wasn't going to lose this one.
Snow rubbed her forehead, not quite sure how to word the news that she had been dreading telling him. Emma had told her what had happened with Graham both in Storybrooke and also in their travels together. But now she was gone, taken away by Cora and the mischievous Hook. "She's… she's gone. Graham… Conan… So much has happened, but she was taken from me, again. Hook tricked her, he made her believe…"
"Who is this Hook? What did he make her believe?"
"A pirate of the worst kind," she replied. "She trusted him, but it was a trick, it was all a ploy to hand her over to Cora."
Graham shook his head in disbelief. He wasn't going to lose her to some pirate, not the woman that made him feel again. "Why did you bring me back now?"
"Because you are the one that can get her back," Snow said quietly. It wasn't her idea, for the first time in years she found herself at the hands of the Queen, who believed they would need a huntsman to save Emma this time. "The Queen believes that it would take a strong man with conviction to bring her back to us, Cora has her trapped with stronger magic than we have ever seen."
"The Queen?" Graham asked. "I will do nothing for the queen. How can you trust her?"
"Because Cora, the Queen of Hearts as she was once known, is the only person that Regina fears," the Doctor told him. "There is no one she would like to rid of more than her own mother."
"Her mother is the Queen of Hearts?" Graham remembered hearing the horror stories of the evil queen that was known for stealing the hearts of those around her and keeping them as keepsakes. Then he remembered the Queen's own collection of hearts and things started to align. "I had always thought those were just rumors. Stories told at pubs for a laugh."
"She's real, and she makes Regina look like an angel in comparison," Snow told him.
Snow was about to explain when the door of the hospital room opened and the Prince stepped in. He held a sword in one hand and on his chest was the badge of the town sheriff. "Huntsman," he said, surprised at the fact that the experiment worked.
"Conan," was the answer that came from Snow, who shot her husband a look before walking over to him and letting him put his arms around her.
"Graham works as well, no one has ever really called me by my given name," he explained. "I was just known as the hunter before."
"Well, Graham, once you are up and moving again this badge is all yours," the prince told him with a small smile. "But first are you going to do the job for us?"
"Save Emma?" Graham paused. It was hard to put into words the feeling of responsibility he felt for Emma's well being. There was something that tied her to him in a way that he was unable to explain. "I have to but first someone needs to tell me what has happened while I was out if you ever expect me to have a chance."
Emma awoke with a start, forgetting for a moment that she was still trapped in this magical cell. Standing up she once again walked over to the door, which on inspection looked so simple, yet she was unable to free herself. How she got herself into this position she marked only to her disastrous taste in men.
"Emma?" a female voice called out to her from beyond the door.
"Go away," Emma snapped at the princess who had aided in her imprisonment. The girl was naïve, believing that the Queen would revive her lost love, the one that she still blamed Emma for losing.
"I brought you something to eat, you haven't eaten in days," Aurora told her as she walked closer. She put the plate on the ground and slid it towards the prisoner. "Princess, I didn't mean for this to happen, but it's for the best. The Queen will restore things, make them the way that they were. Now that movement is unrestricted between our world and yours, Queen Cora will fix things, you'll see."
"That's not what your warrior thought," Emma said, speaking of Mulan.
Aurora shook her head, "She lost hope. Her past makes her dark; she doesn't understand the power of true love. I won't give up on Phillip I refuse. If there is a way to get him back from those things then I have to try. He found me, now I have to save him."
True love. If it weren't for her own parents, Emma would have said there was no such thing. But Snow White and the Prince, they showed her that it was more than real, that it was more powerful than any curse. It saved Henry when he was under the Queen's spell. "They are tricking you, the way they tricked me," Emma told the Princess. "Don't be a fool."
Angry, Aurora walked off, leaving Emma alone. Emma reached for the plate and grabbed the hard roll off of it. Shredding it in her hands she started eating it piece by piece as she considered what her options were. She had been in some tight situations before, this wasn't anything completely new, and this was the first time that magic was involved.
"Are you sure that this will work?" Graham asked as he held the compass in his hands. At the present it was still, not doing anything.
Henry grabbed it out of his hands and took it, running over across the room to his beloved possession. The boy started flipping through the pages until he found what he was looking for. A picture of the same compass in the hands of a pirate. "Here, look. It belonged to another pirate, it directs you to your heart's desire."
Graham looked down on the kid with doubt. It was still hard to believe that all the things in the book were real, that all this time the kid had actually been onto something. And the Queen just made everyone think that the boy was crazy.
"Do you want her back more than anything else in the world?" the Prince asked.
"Yes," was the firm answer. The reason that it didn't work here had nothing to do with it being broken, but that what he wanted was not to be found here. "How do I get to the other world, to our world?"
"That's where I come in," a man he had never met before told him. He wore a strange suit, something that reminded the hunter of his home more than Storybrooke. He had never met the hatter before, but had heard stories of the man that was locked away on the hillside going crazy. "I have been known to be able to create a portal between the realms."
"Can you do it now?" Graham asked, noting the use of the past tense.
Jefferson nodded, "Now that Emma and Snow have created a bridge between the two realms, it should not be much of a problem. Except Queen Cora will block my advances, she knows my magic well."
"Just tell me how I am going to get to her," Graham demanded getting frustrated at the hatter.
"That's where the boy comes in, if the Prince doesn't mind," Jefferson told him. The Prince nodded, giving the okay and Jefferson leaned down to look Henry in the eyes. "Henry, you have magic."
"What?" Henry said in disbelief.
"It's no mistake that you are the child that Regina adopted. She saw it in you too, only she had no idea your connection to the Savior was. That's why you were able to realize that the town wasn't changing, as you grew older, it's why you were the one that was able to enter and leave Storybrooke. You have magic, boy."
Henry shook his head and Snow walked up to him wrapping an arm around him protectively. "You are not turning my grandson into her, I know what magic does to people, and Emma wouldn't let you," Snow told them. There would have to be another way, she wasn't going to expose Henry like that.
Henry ducked out of Snow's grasp and took the hat from Jefferson. "I am going to save Emma," he told her. "She saved me, and she's my mom. What do I have to do?"
Jefferson smiled and crouched down to tell the boy what to do, considering it was his first try at magic he didn't expect anything too spectacular from him, but even on the first attempt a purple haze started to flow. "You are more powerful than I originally thought," he told the boy, urging him to go on.
After another try a portal was opened and Henry stepped back, allowing Graham to move towards it. Graham hesitated, unsure of his next move. "Go!" Henry yelled, and with that Graham stepped inside the portal, falling into its trap.
"Don't be so bitter, love," Hook told Emma as he looked in on her cell. "It's not that I was completely uninterested."
Emma wanted to punch him, to kick him, to shoot him if she really had the opportunity but the cell kept her restrained. "What do you even need me for anyway?" she asked him again.
"Don't know, don't care," Killian told her with ease. "That's the Queen's business, not mine. I was just told to bring you to her."
"And you follow her blindly? What does she have that you want so badly that you are willing to trust her?" Emma asked.
Killian laughed. "Full of questions today, aren't we? Unfortunately for you, I am not in the mood to be providing answers. Let's just say if she gets her vengeance, I will be much closer in getting mine."
"The man who took your hand," she stated simply. Over and over again she tried to go through her thoughts try and figure out where she had gone wrong in misjudging him, of thinking that maybe he was someone worth her trust. Emma didn't generally trust that easily, but he had wormed his way in simple enough.
"Yes, him, but someone else as well," Killian Jones looked down. There were only two men that had ever outsmarted him, and one was barely a man at all. He was a boy, really. A teenager.
Emma would never underestimate anyone's capacity for vengeance, which was one lesson she learned over and over again since she first arrived in Storybrooke. "Fine, keep your secrets, Hook. When do you think you might be able to take me to the queen?"
"Still asking questions," he remarked. "Tomorrow we should reach land."
Hook left her alone and Emma fell into another night of restless sleep. Being on a ship was not something that she was used to and she found it difficult to remain asleep for any period of time. The light was pouring in her small window when she felt the boat jerk, the anchor hitting the sea floor. They had reached their destination, whatever that was.
Aurora came into the room with the keys to the cell, opening it with ease before strapping Emma's hands together. Emma did her best to maneuver her way out of the woman's small grasp but she was weak after the lack of food and water and was unable to best the Princess, who had been learning a few tricks as well.
Taken onto a small passenger boat Emma was taken to shore and found herself face to face with Cora once again. The Queen was looking regal now, with a high collar and a smirk on her face. "Ah, Emma, what a pleasure to see you," Cora grinned.
"I would say the same, but I don't like to lie," Emma replied. "Especially to royalty, your majesty."
"Oh, dear, we are practically family, you must call me Cora. And you will be spending quite a bit of time with me so we might as well get to know each other," the Queen told her.
"What do you want from me?" Emma asked.
"You serve multiple purposes as a hostage," Cora explained. "The first being a sure way to get my daughter to come face me. The second is to bring those parents of yours back into this world."
"Regina? What would Regina need me for now?"
"Oh, darling, no one told you? Well isn't that interesting," Cora said with a laugh. "You slayed a dragon, broke a extremely powerful spell but your work is not yet complete. Regina will need you if she wants to end Snow White once and for all. And not just because you're her daughter, no, it's more complicated than that. Magic always is."
Emma had more questions than ever before, but she knew that she would be pushing the line if she were to continue. For now she would just have to observe her captor to find weakness in her.
Graham fell into the dirt with a hard thud. Standing up he took his pulse as the doctor had reminded him to. His heart was still adjusting to working full time, keeping a dead man alive. Too much strain could over work it.
He grabbed the compass from his pocket and opened its lid. The arrows were now spinning out of control and Graham watched as it started to calm. It led into a forest, and he was without a gun or a bow. Red had told him a number of places within the forest that held weapons, but he had no idea where he had landed, where he was in the grand forest of his homeland.
It was then a wolf walked out of the forest, grey and white. His old friend, his brother. Graham approached the beast and held out a hand, allowing the dog to breathe him in before greeting him. It had been many years since the last time they were together. The wolf started in towards the forest and Graham followed, knowing that he would be led in the right direction.
He soon came across one of the weapons that Red had hidden in the forest years ago. Throwing the quiver over his shoulder he grabbed the bow and opened the compass again. "You coming?" he asked the large wolf at his side.
He walked through the night, only the light of the full moon to guide his way. The forest was emptier than he remembered it, quieter. Something was wrong, he could sense it. Living among the wolves he had learned to use his senses to judge the environment. Although the world looked rather similar, something was drastically different. There were no birds chirping, no sound of small rodents feet as they ran up and down the trees. It was as if he was completely alone. The world wasn't right, something happened with the curse.
As the morning dawned over the trees he continued to follow the compass out of the forest and towards the shore. It was on the beach that he was exposed, unprotected without the trees to hide him. Graham became uncomfortable and he could tell the wolf by his side felt the same. "Go, leave, I know you don't want to be here," he said to the dog, who ran into the woods.
Graham walked for almost an hour before he came upon the camp. A dozen ships sat out in the harbor, and a small camp was settled on the beach. The compass was getting more precise, so he knew that he was close to seeing Emma again. It was just how to get into the camp undetected that posed the greatest problem.
"You'll be nice and safe in here, my dear granddaughter," Cora said sweetly. There was nothing that annoyed Emma more than the fake kindness that Cora oozed. Over the last few hours she had heard the men talking, she had gotten more of the Queen's real story. The Queen of Hearts. The Red Queen. Whatever her title, it stood for the blood she spilled to gain her power. Her magic ability rivaled any others until her own daughter started to collect hearts.
"Wouldn't I technically be your great granddaughter?"
Cora grimaced. "I suppose so, but that makes me seem so… old. I would much rather we stuck with grandmother."
"What is this?" Emma asked, referring to the supernatural invisible barrier that held her in the room.
"Killian was right, you do ask too many questions," Cora said harshly. "Just a bit of magic. It will keep you in and anyone who might want to harm you out. Actually it keeps everyone out."
"So I'm your prisoner?" Emma asked. "I might not know much about family, but I do know they generally don't hold one another hostage."
"It's for the best, dearie," Cora said with a wave, turning to walk away.
Graham watched the camp for nearly an hour, watching the men pass from the large ship to the camp on their rowboats bringing much needed supplies. They went back and forth in pairs, unfortunately for the hunter. Finally he saw one go off on his own, and he took the opportunity to shoot the man in the leg.
The man screamed out as he felt the arrow enter his calf but his cry was muffled by a piece of fabric being shoved into his mouth and his arms being tied around his back. He had only meant to go to the woods for a piss, and now he was tied and gagged, with a man in strange clothes stripping him and putting on his clothes.
"I'm sorry, brother," Graham told the man as he stripped off his own shirt and replaced it with the pirate's tunic. "You will not die here, I will send someone for you soon."
Another pirate, a balding man came racing to where Graham and the pirate stood. "What the hell happened here?" he asked as he looked at the strange site.
Graham shrugged, acting confused. "Came out to take a piss," he said in his thickest accent, "and this man was bound and gagged."
"Back to work then, help me bring this one to the Captain, he'll want to know of this," Smee told Graham. Graham nodded and helped the shorter man pick up the pirate and carry him towards the center of the camp. They laid him on a table before ungagging him. Graham held a dagger visible in his hand to warn the pirate not to say a word about what had taken place. "What happened to you, son?"
"I… I… I don't know," he said hesitantly. "Went to smoke and next thing I know I'm waking up naked and tied up. And not in the good way."
The Captain came walking into the common area and took a long look at the man on the table. "Why hasn't anyone clothed the man? If I wanted to see a naked pirate, I'd strip down myself." He pointed at Graham. "You there, go fetch him some clothes from his tent, then you will come with me to tell the Queen of what you discovered."
Graham did as he was told and followed the captain to the queen. The closer he got to the queen the closer he would get to her hostage. Entering a large tent he saw the older woman standing over a book. "Your Majesty," the captain said as he bowed. Graham followed suit, bowing to the woman in front of him.
She turned to face them and gestured for them to stand. "Now how have I not seen your pretty face before?" she asked of Graham. "What is your name?"
"Conan, my lady," he told her looking towards the ground. "I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you, my work has kept me distracted."
"Must have been one of the ones I grabbed from the last port. Smee always works the new ones the hardest. Make 'em earn their position," Hook told her. "He was the one that came across the naked man, my queen."
Killian hated referring to her by title, but he knew the importance of keeping his relationship with the Queen a secret. It was a game that had to be played if both wished to get what they wanted most.
"Walk with me, Conan," the Queen told him, waving off the Captain. "Tell me what you saw as we get some fresh air."
Graham closed his eyes and took a deep breath before complying with her wishes. The two stepped out of the tent and he followed her as she walked past the tents to one of the only buildings left standing from what used to be a seaside village. He told her of his 'discovery' and she told him of the town that once was and how the Evil Queen had destroyed it in her quest for power. He nodded and agreed at the appropriate times, not wanting to show any sign that he knew more than what she had told him.
As they walked into the lighthouse Graham could feel the magic inside. "What is this place?" he asked her. "It is more than a mere lighthouse."
"You're observant, Conan. That is a trait that will do you well," Cora told him as she walked further into the circular room. "Lighthouses were often placed on top of witch burial sites, the feeling you have is one of magic. It makes it much more powerful. Any spell made here is much stronger than it's average counterpart. It's here I store my vast collection."
Hearts. Spellbooks. Prisoners. Graham knew instantly what she was speaking of when she said her collection. She was easily leading him to exactly where he needed to be. "It's amazing," he said to her as he looked around the room, trying to discern where in its stories might hold her most valued prisoner. "Dearest Queen, what is the prize of your collection, if I may be so bold as to ask."
"Please, call me Cora when we are alone," the Queen said with a smile, enjoying the time with the handsome man. "The further up you go, the more valuable my treasures become, Conan. But each level poses a threat, a security measure I put in place to not lose any of my valuables."
Graham took note and followed the Queen for the afternoon, waiting for his moment to sneak off and head back into the lighthouse.
He finally was allowed to leave the company of the Queen when she took her tea, with a knave reminding her that he would need to return to his work if he wished to finish his share before nightfall. Leaving them he headed towards the encampment for reinforcements and to gather the bow that he left near the woods.
Graham had only picked up the quiver when he heard the footsteps from behind him. Turning he aimed the bow at his attacker to see the captain of the ship. "Captain," he said, lowering the bow.
"You are the one that tied up my man," Hook told him firmly.
"Yes," was the reply.
"What is your real reason here, boy?" the captain asked.
Graham knew better to trust a pirate. "The queen has something very precious to me," he answered.
"A heart?" Hook asked, drawing his sword for good measure. "If it's just a simple heart you want, you needn't go through the trouble. She destroyed most of her collection, used it to harness her magic."
"Of sorts," Graham said preparing to defend himself. "Is there a chance you will let me go to the lighthouse and attempt to retrieve it?"
"It's your death wish, not mine," Hook told him. "Cora is nastier than any woman you will ever meet. To cross her is a death sentence. Besides hearts she often likes to collect the heads of traitors. A pretty face like yours she'd be sure to keep. Take this, good luck." Killian threw his sword at the man in front of him. He knew that there was no way this pretty boy would make it through the lighthouse alive. Even if he did make it out with whatever he came to retrieve, the captain would place his best men at the foot of the house to kill him.
Graham took the sword and started to run, making it to the lighthouse in minutes. He didn't trust the pirate and knew that he wouldn't have a lot of time if he wanted them to be able to get out safely and into the woods before nightfall. Ascending the stairs he tried to use all his senses to discern what was ahead of him. He made it through the first few stories without an issue, a library from the looks of it. It was the next one where he faced his first foe, a troll that guarded the passage onward. How the queen had managed to domesticate a troll he was unsure but he had to be as quiet and quick as possible to slip by unnoticed.
He neared the top when he felt the force of a brick wall stop him. Spelled. From the looks of things there was nothing stopping him from the next step but he was unable to move any further. Slashing the sword in front of him did nothing, tapping the bricks on the wall lead him any closer to his destination. Grabbing the compass from his pocket he opened it again, closed his eyes and pictured Emma's face. The way she had looked at in the station, the smile she had before she leaned into his kiss.
When he opened his eyes he raised a fist to the invisible barrier only to realize it was gone. Not knowing how or why he continued up the stairs to the final room before the light tower. It was locked, but with the use of a snapped arrow he was able to pick it and step inside. It was a beautiful tower bedroom, fit for a princess. And she was a princess, he remembered. Snow had told him that she was the daughter that Snow had lost.
"Emma," he said to her walking closer only to once again feel the force field stop him. She sat near the window looking out, and it was as though she hadn't even heard him. "Emma," he said louder, only for her not to respond. "Damn it Emma, look at me!" he yelled.
Emma spun around, hearing a voice she long thought lost. "Graham?" she said as the tears came to her eyes. But there, beyond her prison he stood, dressed as one of the captain's crew. "You're a trick, a sick joke of Cora's," she said aloud, mostly to herself. No, Graham was dead. This was just an illusion.
Graham shook his head, "but I'm not. How would she me as more than just her daughter's huntsman? How would she know what happened in Storybrooke, how you changed everything for me."
Emma wouldn't believe the lies. Cora was capable of more than she could imagine. It would be simple enough to create an illusion of this kind. "You aren't real, you can't be real. You died, I was there, you died in my arms."
"And your mother had me brought back to life," he yelled. With each word of disbelief he realized it was harder and harder for her to hear him. He grasped the compass firmly in his hand as the arrow pointed at Emma. They wouldn't have much more time before they would need to run. Trying as he did before he focused on her face as he stepped forward, past the magical divide.
When he pushed past the barrier she wrapped her arms around him, allowing herself the moment in the illusion. It was a kind moment to feel herself in his embrace before letting the illusion fall. She was prisoner here, and Cora would do anything to ruin her psychologically. This trick was just one of many.
"We need to get out of here, quickly. Take this," he said handing her the sword. "There's a troll about half way down, and I am sure even worse now that we are on the way out."
Emma looked up in confusion, but took the sword anyway. He grabbed her wrist and pushed through the force field that had restrained her and out the door. The Graham illusion was right, it was much more difficult leaving then it was getting up. The troll was now joined but what Emma could only describe as hell hounds, which she slaughtered mercilessly as they made their escape.
At the base of the tower they had just a moment for breath as they stepped outside, only to be met by the best of Hook's crew. "Hook," Emma muttered under her breath. "That bastard."
She drew her sword, and Graham his bow and they made short work of the crew until they ran to the forest's edge. It was there they met Hook, who was waiting for them. "Off so soon, sweetheart?" he asked Emma when he saw her.
His charming smile would have fooled her only a few days ago, when she thought there was more to him than his pirate act. She just drew her sword and pointed it to her neck.
She was surprised as Graham took a palm to lower the sword, leaving them vulnerable to attack. "You said I could go, that it was my own death wish to enter the light house. I entered and made it out alive, the honorable thing to do is to let us go."
"Too bad I'm not honorable," the Captain said with a smile. "If I had known what you had gone in for I would have never let you live. I just brought the princess to the Queen, I can't let her go that easily."
"Move, Hook," she said fiercely. "He might believe in honor but I don't."
"Just like you don't believe in love?" Hook said with a laugh. "Looks like your boy there does, or else he wouldn't have been able to save you."
"Love?" Emma asked, looking over at Graham. She still couldn't believe he was by her side, and part of her still thought he was a hallucination.
"Only the most powerful magic can break through a spell like that, sweetheart," Hook told her.
"True love," she said, hardly above a whisper.
The look on her face was all Graham needed to realize that his feelings might not be reciprocated. He raised his bow and aimed, shooting the pirate in the gut. He wouldn't have killed him, but anger had swelled within him. Graham wasn't sure if the pirate would live or die, and at the moment he didn't even care. He just started to walk away, walking away from Emma and into the forest. He could hear her following him as they walked in the moonlight.
It was hours before she finally said anything. "Who are you? In this world?" Emma was finally starting to believe that he was really there, that he was alive and had saved her life.
"I've been called a lot of things," he told her, not really answering the question. They kept walking in silence, Emma keeping her questions to herself. It was nearly morning before he spoke again. "Conan was my given name but around here I have many different names. Wolf boy, Wolf-man, the hunter, and most recently the Queen's Huntsman."
The huntsman. The one that let Snow White escape, unable to kill an innocent young woman. Emma remembered the story well, and even read the version that was in Henry's book. The huntsman wasn't killed for betraying the queen; instead she took his heart, forcing him to a life of servitude.
They were nearly out of the forest when she first saw the portal. "A portal, but how?"
"Henry."
"Henry?" she asked, following him as he moved towards the smoke.
Emma hit the floor of the police station with a start. Looking around she saw Henry asleep at the desk and her parents talking quietly in the corner. They looked up at her and a smile broke across Snow's face. "Emma!" she said as she ran over to embrace her daughter. Emma returned the hug and smiled at her father. It was still strange to think of these people as her parents, but now more than ever she was glad to finally have a family.
Jefferson, hearing the commotion came into the space and woke Henry. "He will need to close the portal now before anything follows you in," he told Emma.
Graham, noticing the family reunion started to head out of the station before he felt a hand on his arm. The Prince had come to him as Henry greeted his mother and pulled him back. "Stay," Charming told the hunter. "She just needs some time with her family."
Graham shook his head, "She doesn't love me."
"How do you know that?"
"Love saved her, my love and she was shocked by the idea. I was wrong in thinking there was more to that kiss than the moment," Graham explained.
Jefferson was telling Henry what to do as they heard a crash in the middle of the station. Killian Jones fell onto the floor as Henry attempted to close the portal.
"Hook!" Snow exclaimed.
"Close the portal, Henry!" Emma said to him in a panic. Henry did as he was told and the portal between the worlds vanished. Every time one crisis was solved another was dropped into their laps. "Cuff him and put him in the holding cell until we know what to do with him."
Graham was the one to reach for the handcuffs that were hanging from a hook on the wall. Walking over he took the pirate and brought him to the cell, cuffing his hands together before closing him in. "Conan, what a little bastard you are," Hook hissed.
"It's Graham," the huntsman replied. Conan was a different man, a man that didn't understand human interaction or the love of another being. Graham was the one that discovered those things, and he would be the one that would continue to live.
The family left the station, heading towards the house that the Prince had owned, but Graham found himself without a place to go. He had once lived at Gran's, for twenty-eight years he had but that wasn't home. It never was. He was a nomad, that was his life before the curse and now it would be his life after. Standing alone on the street he found himself wandering around the town that used to trap him.
"Graham," he heard a voice say to him after roaming for what seemed like just a few minutes. "Have you been out here the whole time? It's been nearly three hours since we left the station…"
Graham turned to face the voice, knowing that it was Emma's. He looked at her face and could sense the smile that started to form. Once he noticed it he quickly remembered the way she had been so shocked, so surprised that someone could care for her that he cared for her.
"Snow told me what happened," Emma started. "I have never really been the type to believe in these kinds of things, fairytales and horror stories. They were for other people, people who needed to escape the real world. But they're true and I am living with that now. Snow White is my mother, and Prince Charming my father. Hell, Dr. Frankenstein brought you back to life as his creation. Those are supposed to be just stories, Graham."
"They aren't stories, that's what I wanted to tell you before," he tried to say.
"I know, I know that now. For some reason I changed you, and I blamed myself for your death," she told him. "I broke the curse for you, and I couldn't figure out why. Since the curse was broken all I dream about is what happened to you, trying to figure out how I broke your curse. Until last night. Last night Hook gave me the answer that I didn't want to hear. That I didn't want to admit to myself. Love breaks curses."
"Genuine love," Graham explained.
Emma nodded, "True love can break any curse. Even though Snow has said it over and over again I never connected it."
Graham took steps forward, closing the distance between them. He placed a hand on her hip and another under her chin, guiding her mouth to his. The taste of her lips was sweet and he deepened the kiss, guiding his tongue into her mouth. Emma's hands wrapped around his neck, one hand moving into his curly hair before he parted from her.
"Maybe the fairytale I have the hardest time believing is my own," she said, out of breath. "In love."
"I know I made mistakes Emma," Graham replied. "But I need you, you see. I'm a broken man, hell my heart is literally a machine, but it's still runs. I love you."
"I love you too," Emma answered, finally admitting it to herself as she admitted it to him. She grabbed his hand and started walking back towards the town.
"Where are we going?" he asked her.
"Home," she answered simply as he led her back to the apartment that she had shared with Mary Margaret. "Snow and Charming don't seem to need it anymore, with his house and all. Henry is with them so the apartment is ours."
"Ours," he said with a smile. "I don't think I've ever really had a home before."
"I guess it's a first for both of us then," Emma said as she leaned in for another kiss.