This was a prompt submitted to me by an anonymous user on Tumblr from a sentence starter meme I reblogged:

"Don't do this."

Set in a canon divergence of 6x12, where Emma was the one to help David find out who killed his dad.

"Shatter every window till it's all blown away,
Every brick, every board, every slamming door blown away
Till there's nothing left standing,
Nothing left of yesterday
Every tear-soaked whiskey memory blown away."-Carrie Underwood

Emma hung back as she watched August and her father discuss Pleasure Island. She had wanted to help him as much as she could, though she was definitely hesitant. Her mother had told her about him discovering that Robert's death had been a result of murder rather than his alcoholism. However, Snow had also added that David had agreed to let it go. She couldn't help but agree with it. Things in Storybrooke were crazy enough without her dad risking his life to try to get revenge. When he came to her, asking for her help since she had potions and such, she almost said no. Then she found out from Killian that he had passed out in front of her house and realized just how much of a walking zombie he looked like. She was starting to figure out he wasn't going to tag out and wake up her mom until he got to the bottom of this. David had promised to finally get some sleep once it was all sorted and Emma truly believed him.

"This is definitely the coin," August confirmed as he looked it over. "And it was the last I saw of him, he left with the boy. Honestly, I never put you with him, David."

"He went after James," David breathed, a mixture of shock and confusion on his face. Emma stepped closer, putting her hand on top of his and he squeezed it in return. "I thought he was just a drunk who fell prey to his temptations." A smile slowly spread across his face as he came to the realization. Decades of resenting his father, thinking he cared more about the alcohol than his family…it wasn't true. "He was trying to fix our family."

"He was stone cold sober," August confirmed with a smile.

David reached down and took the coin into his hand. It felt different now and it wasn't just the remnants of the potion. Suddenly, he realized just who had killed his father. It all made sense now. He was nearly surprised that he hadn't thought of it before. Emma could see the gears in her father's head working and she suddenly got a little worried. She knew that look, heck, she had inherited it from him-as had Henry.

Emma wasn't paying much attention to August continuing to discuss Robert, talking about the pages from the book he had removed all those years ago. She only snapped out of it when she heard her father say his goodbyes and head for the door. Emma quickly turned to her friend and gave him a quick smile.

"Thanks," she said before following her dad out the door.

When she caught up with David, he was pacing a little bit, though he stopped when he saw his daughter.

"I know who killed him," he told her. "He's still alive and I know where he is."

Emma sighed. "Dad…"

David studied her face. That hadn't been the reaction he was expecting. "You don't want me to go after him." It wasn't a question, more of a statement.

"No, I don't think it's a good idea."

"Seriously?"

"Dad, you promised Mom that you weren't going to look for him. I understood this little mission, but you know now. Isn't that enough?"

"No! My father was a good man, he was just trying to get our family together! George needs to pay!"

Emma bit her lip. Out of all the people, it had to be him. George and her father already had a complicated history. The former tyrant had not only destroyed James and turned him into the monster he became, he had also been terrible to David and Snow. Ruth had to die just so Emma and her brother could even exist. George was already paying for his crimes, he was locked up in the asylum and forever would be.

"He already is," Emma said, trying to calm him down. "He's locked up, he's never getting out. Killing him won't bring your father back. You need to just find a way to move on. Don't you remember what you told me when we thought Killian was gone for good? People are meant to grieve."

"You didn't listen to that advice," David pointed out.

"No, but I should have," she replied, sounding just as stubborn as he. "If I had just grieved properly, not gone to the Underworld, I would've saved everyone so much pain. My lack of coping skills ended up two lives being taken and only one was able to come back. I regret my choices." She let out a sigh. "I don't want you doing something you're going to regret."

David looked down into Emma's eyes, letting her words wash over him. He bit down on his lip and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Could you go pick up Neal from the daycare?" He asked. "I think I need some sleep."

Emma smiled a little and nodded, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Emma grabbed Neal from the daycare just a block away, thanking Ashley for all the babysitting she had been doing lately. She headed back to the loft, expecting to see her mother awake. Instead, she found her still sleeping peacefully in bed. Emma felt a sinking feeling fill her stomach as she walked over to the nightstand and found her father's handwriting on the pad her parents used to write notes back and forth.

Emma,

I'm sorry, but I can't go to sleep. Not yet. George has caused our family so much pain over the years, I can't let him get away with it anymore. I love you, I'll see you soon.-Dad

She let out a frustrated grunt and dug through her pocket, pulling out her cellphone. "Henry, what are you up to, kid?...Alright, great. I'm going to drop your uncle off, alright? My mom's still asleep and I have to help Dad with something else."

Luckily for Emma, it had taken David some time to get to the asylum. She used her old bail bondsperson skills to stealthily walk behind him through the halls to where George was. She watched as her father threw open the door to the cell. George sat on his bed, that smirk returning to his face.

"A visitor," he snarked. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

David stormed into the cell and grabbed him by the shirt, dragging him out and doing all but throw him against the wall. "You killed my father!"

George chuckled and Emma was so tempted to just snap his neck herself. "Well technically, I ordered him killed. I wondered if you'd work it out."

Emma had never seen the look that was in her father's eyes. It was a mixture of disgust, hatred and hurt. "You evil bastard. He didn't deserve that," he snarled.

"That's true," George taunted. "He was a good man. I offered him temptation and he withstood it. I'll bet he was imagining your little face when he opened the front door and he was standing there, sober, victorious with your brother in his arms." He let out an evil laugh. "Instead you got news he died a drunken failure."

"Stop!" David's voice was breaking. He grabbed a knife from his pocket and slid it across the floor to George before grabbing another and holding it out. "Now fight for your life, if you think it's worth it."

The words took Emma off guard. This was a side of him she hadn't seen before. Her father was a hero, one of the good guys. To her, that's what he'd always be. She wasn't blind to the bad things he had done in the past, but knew he had regrets over them. Here, she knew that he didn't really want George to die. He just wanted the pain to stop. She knew the feeling all too well. Not too long ago, she had stood over Lily holding a gun. She had thought if she killed her, all the hurt from her parents' lies, the expectations that were put upon both of them, the pain that Lily had inflicted on her would just go away. Luckily, Regina had been there to talk her down. She was lucky.

She wouldn't allow her father to succumb to darkness, not again.

"Don't do this!" Emma yelled out.

David turned to Emma, his eyes wide. He had been really stupid to expect that she wouldn't follow him. Before he could react much further, Emma grabbed George by his arm and shoved him back into his cell, slamming the door shut. She used her magic to lock the door again.

"What the hell?!" David exploded. "He admitted he killed my father!"

"Yes," Emma replied, calmly, stepping closer to her father. "He killed him. He also told you about the type of man that he was. Your father could've killed George right then and there, but he didn't. He was a good man, noble."

"But it didn't work! He still died!" David felt tears gather in his eyes. "I thought he didn't fight for us, but he did! He fought with everything that he had! He did the right thing and it wasn't enough!"

Emma bit her lip, watching as he clearly became more emotional. She stepped closer to him, feeling her heart break. Her father and her were alike in many ways. From their hair to the similar smile, to the ability to bottle things up inside until they completely exploded.

"What if we can't break this curse and I never get to see your mother again? What if…what if Gideon comes back and he…" David trailed off, not wanting to voice his most recent fear out loud. Emma ducked her head, she didn't want to add to her father's worry. At the same time, she knew there wasn't much she could do there. If Henry was going through the same thing, she wouldn't be able to help but be scared. "What if being Prince Charming isn't enough and I keep losing and it keeps going and I lose everything that matters to me?!"

Tears prickled Emma's eyes herself. She hated seeing her dad in such a way, so vulnerable and scared. She was the savior, it was her job to keep everyone's safe. She felt as though she had failed him in some way, for not preventing the Evil Queen's curse upon their hearts. She didn't care if she had to die to keep her family safe, but between this breakdown and Henry's while they were searching for Aladdin, she was starting to realize just what a tole it was taking on everyone. At the same time, she knew it was more than that.

She and her father had grown up the same way in certain senses. Yes, he had a loving mother, but not a father. He assumed his dad hadn't cared, that he had put something above him. Emma had spent every day for 28 years assuming that her own father had given her up, didn't care about her. She assumed there had been something greater that came before her. Then she broke the curse and found out that he nearly died trying to keep her safe. It was overwhelming and the emotions were a lot for anyone to handle. She had pushed her parents away when she was going through them, but she wasn't going to abandon her dad when he needed her the most.

"I understand," she said, softly. "I do. You don't have to be anything more than what you are. You are an amazing man, one that your father would be so proud of. You're a great husband, a phenomenal father to Neal…and me." She bridged the final gap between them. "You don't have to be a prince, you don't have to be a hero. You don't have to save everyone. It's going to be okay."

David looked down into his daughter's eyes, they were both crying by that point. He let out a shaky breath and dropped the knife, falling to his knees as he sobbed. Emma knelt in front of him, wrapping her arms tightly around him. He returned the hug, still managing to cradle the back of her head. It was going to take more than this for him to move on from it, sessions with Archie were probably much needed. But in that moment, the two just sat there, hugging each other tightly. Not heroes, royalty or saviors. Just a father and daughter, using love to start the healing process.

As always, prompts are accepted on my Tumblr accounts: just-an-outlaw and justanoutlawfanfiction!