Thank you all so much for your encouraging reviews! I am so glad you liked the beginning of the story and I hope you enjoy the next installment. I am going to try and follow through with some story lines from season one but will be heating things up a bit as we go along.
Also to the guest reviewer who mentioned my mistakes, I am terribly sorry for those and I am going to do my research and try and fix them! My granddad is a veteran so I will try and get details from him about rankings and such but he was in the UK army so I know they are a lot different. As to the hotel, I only did that because I wanted to show the difference between how Emma's life has been compared to the others (this will be shown in flashbacks). I understand that they would be brutally taught how to cope but this was just my own little twist to it. I hope my changes (when I do them) are better than my first take.
Okay so the next chapter will show Emma and Regina having a bit of a showdown and well, you will see!
For now, enjoy and don't forget to review dearies :)
An hour later, Henry had managed to convince Emma to not call the police, give him a mug of juice, a cookie and take him back home to Storybrooke. She sat in the car at a red light staring at him, seeing the same cunning eyes and curious smile on his face that she once had. Shaking her head, she carried on with the drive, it being a while yet till they reached Maine. 3 hours had passed since they started driving, Emma's body aching slightly from the uncomfortable position her bug seat was putting her in. She shifted awkwardly, Henry watching her out of the corner of his eye. He watched curiously as she rubbed her thigh and winced, and drove for a while with one arm wrapped around her torso.
"Are you okay? We can pull over if you want" He offered, his corner flattering Emma.
"I'm okay kid, just tired" Why go into the details of her past with someone she just met. Whether he was her kid or not, she was not about to pour her life story out to him. He nodded, the two drifting off into a comfortable silence again. Emma couldn't help but think about how long it had been since she had been on a long drive, memories filling her mind as she drove down the empty highway.
August snored softly in the chair next to Emma, Lucy slumped against Emma's chair in the back.
"If he was planning on falling asleep he could have warned us and let me sit in the front. It's so cramped back here" She complained loudly, hoping to wake him but as they knew from first-hand experience, nothing could wake the man while he was sleeping, except maybe an ice bucket.
"Stop complaining, we will be there soon" Emma laughed, cracking her neck causing Lucy to cringe and lean away from her chair.
"Yeah whatever. We still have 5 more hours to go!" She sighed and laid down across the back seats, Emma looking back at her through the rearview mirror.
"Why don't you follow in his footsteps and sleep for a bit" She offered, Lucy shaking her head, sitting back up.
"I can't, I fell asleep really early last night and I am wide awake today" Emma rolled her eyes, the two sitting in silence before Lucy popped her head back into the front, a silly grin on her face.
"Eye spy with my little eye, something beginning with S" Emma groaned, hitting her head with her hand.
"Lucy, we are in the middle of a desert, there is nothing to spy!" She exclaimed, Lucy pouting like a little child.
"Come on, we have 5 hours to do nothing so we might as well entertain ourselves"
"Fine. Is it sand?" Lucy frowned, looking down slightly.
"How did you guess it that quick?"
"We are in the middle of nowhere! All there is, is sand!" Emma laughed exasperatedly, Lucy giggling slightly.
"You do have a point there" Again, they fell into a silence, Emma shaking her head as Lucy sighed annoyingly, looking around to try and find something else to entertain herself with.
"Too bad we don't have a radio signal out here" She stated, Emma agreeing slightly.
"I do miss my music. That's one thing I am looking forward to when we get home for our 2-month break. Listening to music every day, all day"
"Favorite song?" Lucy wondered, Emma furrowing her eyebrows in thought.
"Ever or since our last trip home?"
"Since our last trip home. We all know your ultimate favorite song is that stupid Aerosmith one from that stupid Willis movie" Emma turned to smack her friend slightly, Lucy laughing at her defensive tactics.
"Hey! I Don't Want to Miss a Thing is one of the best songs ever, and Armageddon is the greatest film ever, so shut your mouth!" Lucy rolled her eyes, Emma putting her eyes back on the dirt road as she continued thinking.
"Probably the new Lady Gaga song that come out before we came back here, PockerFace" Lucy cheered, nodding her head in agreement.
"I wanna hold 'em like they do in Texas plays.
Fold 'em, let 'em, hit me, raise it baby stay with me" Emma immediately caught onto what her friend was doing, bopping her head slightly to the rhythm, butting in before she could continue.
"Love Game intuition play the cards with spades to start
And after he's been hooked I'll play the one that's on his heart" The two continued in bad harmony together, both laughing at the fact they were singing at the top of their lungs and August was still sound asleep.
"Can't read my,
Can't read my,
No he can't read my poker face"
Henry stared at Emma again as she started humming to herself, wondering what was going on in dazed mind as she bopped her head to herself.
"Are you singing PockerFace?" He asked, Emma turning to him with a small smile.
"It's a good song"
Emma saw the sign to Storybrooke in the distance, shaking henry slightly who had dozed off in the seat next to her.
"Hey kid, we are here" He rubbed his eyes, Emma smiling slightly at how similar he was to her. They had the same tired expression, the same furrowed frown. It was kind of comforting for her. They drove down the long, winding road into the town center, Emma pulling up to the side of the road, her and Henry getting out.
"Okay kid, how about an address?" He put his hand on his chin in a fake thinking motion, then shook his head, Emma rolling her eyes.
"24 not telling you street"
"Come on kid! You are going to be missed by someone, your parents are going to be worried sick" She flailed her arms around in annoyance, Henry cringing.
"My mom won't be missing me, she doesn't even love me!" Emma crouched down to his level, placing her hands on his shoulders.
"Come on kid, what's really going on here? Why did you come and get me?" He sighed, pulling out the book from his bag, handing it to her. She frowned, looking back up at him with a shake of the head.
"This book, it's not fairytales, it's all real. The characters in this book are real people, and they have been cursed here by the evil queen. You are the one who can save them" Emma's eyes went wide. She thought that he might have been joking but the seriousness on his face was concerning. They were snapped out of their awkward silence when a man approached them with a dog, looking awfully worried at Henry.
"Henry? What are you doing out here? You missed our session" He asked, Henry seemingly ignoring the man as he went to stroke his dog. Emma frowned. Session?
"Hey Pongo" He greeted happily, the man looking up at Emma who was not staring at the book in thought. The kid had to be kidding, right? Emma shook her head. The fact that she could possibly believe this is obdured.
"Who is this?" The man asked again, Emma opening her mouth to reply but Henry beat her to it, the grin on his face making her heart swell.
"This is my mom"
"You found her?" He whispered, Emma tilting her head in wonder.
"Wait, this has been an ongoing thing? The subject of me?" She asked out loud, the man nodding slightly.
"It has been for a while yes. He has been eager to find you for just over 2 years" Emma's heart swelled, but she needed to get the kid home. They could discuss the matter later.
"I really have to get him home, don't have an address, do you?" She asked the man, a smile coming to his face.
"Turn onto the next street, the mayors house is the biggest on the block" Emma turned to look at Henry with a raised eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You're the mayor's son!?" He looked down slightly, Emma shaking her head and she motioned for him to get back in the car.
"Thank you, erm.." Emma froze as she realized he has not mentioned his name. He held out his hand and smiled, Emma taking it with a sturdy shake.
"Archie Hopper"
"Emma Swan" They parted ways, Emma climbing back into the car next to Henry.
"So, who is he?" Emma wondered, Henry not thinking as he spoke.
"Jiminy Cricket" Sighing, Emma turned to him, Henry laughing slightly.
"Oh, you meant in the town. He is the therapist"
"So, you go the therapy?" Henry rolled his eyes slightly, looking up at the blonde.
"I am not crazy Emma"
"I never said you were kid. Tell me more about this fairy tale land" She knew dragging on his imagination could be unhealthy, but this seemed to be important to him so she was not about to drop the bomb on him that it wasn't all that normal.
"My mom is the Evil Queen. She is the one who cursed everyone" He said, his voice slightly bitter making Emma cringe. Clearly for him to think that she must have acted on the Evil Queen's behalf, making it sound like maybe she wasn't the nicest woman ever. They pulled up outside the house, Henry not too eager to get out the car.
"Henry come on, I get she is worried sick about you" She commented, Henry shaking his head.
"No you don't know what she is like" Emma frowned, climbing out the car and up the pathway to the large house, Henry sulking behind. The blonde jumped up when the door to the large mansion swung open, her feet stopping suddenly causing Henry to stumble behind her. The most beautiful woman appeared in the doorway, her short brunette hair bouncing at her shoulders, her face shining in the light from the house.
"Henry!" She called, Emma ushering Henry forward, not once taking her eyes off the woman before her.
"Thank you so much for bringing him home! I hope he never bothered you too much" A man standing not far behind the woman ushered Henry inside, Emma casting her eyes away to watching him run in and up the stairs. She shook her head, putting her hands in her pockets.
"He never bothered me at all. The drive was a bit of a drag though" She laughed slightly, the woman frowning.
"Drive? Where exactly from?"
"Boston, that's where he found me" Emma saw the recognition settle in his adoptive mothers' eyes, though they sunk slightly, causing her heart to throb.
"You're his birth mother" She sent the brunette a sideward smile, waving slightly before plunging her hand back in her pocket.
"Hi"