Though it was quiet again in Storybrooke and Emma had formed a routine, each morning wasn't the same. It didn't start the same, it didn't feel the same. But as Emma blew on her morning coffee before she slowly turned from the counter and attempted to take a sip, she didn't believe any of those statements because Regina stood just inside the doorway. The difference between seeing Regina the previous morning and this morning was that today Regina looked off. The scene of Emma and Regina in the diner for breakfast may have been similar, but something had changed in Regina and apparently overnight.
There were bags under her eyes and her skin looked paler than Emma could ever remember seeing it. She seemed tense in a way she hadn't the day before when Emma had last seen her in the office. She visibly swallowed and made her way to the counter without making eye contact with anyone, including Emma as the younger woman slowly moved from the counter to a nearby table.
Emma kept her eyes locked on the brunette as she stuttered out an order to Ruby with a voice as shaky as her hands. She looked at Regina curiously and wondered if the other woman had already helped herself to coffee at home before she came to the diner, but that wouldn't explain the lack of color to her once beautifully olive skin or the desperate worry in her widened eyes.
While Regina sat in one of the many available stools at the counter and waited for her food, Emma considered checking in with the other woman. It didn't matter that they hardly spoke and it didn't matter that Regina was still less than pleased with her. The brunette was Henry's mother and Emma wasn't the angry one out of the two of them. She was frustrated and let that out every once in a while, but she wasn't the one that told Regina to keep things between them strictly about Henry.
Regina might not have wanted to be there for Emma, but Emma wanted to be there for Regina. She was a good person that tended to look out for those that didn't threaten her family, at least those that hadn't threatened her family that week, and more than that, she actually cared about Regina. The only reason that made any sense to her was that she cared about the other woman because of Henry, but she had also accepted—long ago—that she also had respect for Regina. The respect used to be mutual, but Emma doubted Regina had much respect for a woman who ripped away her new chance at love.
Emma stood up and left her steaming coffee on the table. She took a deep breath and held it for a moment before she let it out in harsh exhale then took a couple of steps toward Regina. She was about to take a third step when Ruby came out with her order and set her plate and drink down on the counter with an almost non-existent and conflicted smile. It was like Ruby had noticed the same changes in Regina that she had and wanted to smile to comfort the Mayor, but was unsure if that was what she needed. Plus, the discomfort of the fact that Regina burned holes in the people she stared down and the only two people not on the receiving end of those stares lately were Elsa and Tinker Bell.
Ruby gave up with the half-smile as soon as she'd curled her lips to display it and turned to leave Regina to her meal. Emma almost took that third step forward again, but Ruby called out to her with a little urgency and the blonde deflated. Before she turned her attention to the waitress, however, Regina's focus went from her plate to Emma in what felt like the blink of an eye. She gulped and assumed the deer-in-headlights stance and expression under Regina's gaze, which hadn't felt like the usual scrutiny imposed on her whenever they made eye contact.
Regina maintained eye contact for a moment and momentarily looked less frightened, but there still wasn't any amusement or even a playful sneer like there might have been before Emma accidentally and unwittingly screwed with Regina's feelings. It all but broke Emma's heart to see how quickly she had shattered the part of their chemistry, their connection, that made it easy to joke with and jab at each other. It may not have always been pretty or nice between them, but the snarky comments and the familiarity made everything feel right. In a world full of constantly appearing and mostly troublesome fairy tale characters, teasing and insulting each other had a sort of calming effect on the blonde.
And now that that was gone, now that it had stopped, her world felt off-balance. She felt off-balance.
Ruby once again caught Emma's attention and just before she turned to the waitress she saw Regina swallow and look away, back to her food. She almost looked like she wanted to turn back to Emma, at least to avoid whatever was going on inside her head.
"So, last night was the final night of the full moon for the month," Ruby started as she came to stand beside Emma. "I went for a run, like I usually do, and…I saw something."
Emma's eyes widened.
"Uh, really," Emma asked as she tried to discreetly, casually, usher Ruby away from the counter. She really hoped Ruby had seen something other than the terrible date she'd had with Hook. She didn't want to talk about it and she definitely didn't want people to know how lame her love life was, especially because people tended to take Hook's side for some reason. Well, everyone except for Henry.
"Yep," Ruby replied as they both slid into chairs at a table near one of the front windows. "And I'm not sure what to make of it."
"Right. Well," Emma awkwardly responded. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"I wouldn't be telling you if it wasn't a possible cause for concern," Ruby said as she gestured with loose hands and flicking wrists.
"Concern?"
Emma scrunched up her face out of worry and confusion.
"Yeah, I was in the woods kind of by the docks and it seemed like what I saw was worth some attention."
Panic set in. It wasn't the same kind of panic caused by the arrival of a new villain, but she definitely didn't like where the conversation seemed to be going.
"Are you ever going to tell me what you saw or are you just going to keep alluding to this 'possible cause for concern'," she tried to joke.
Ruby chuckled and to ease her building tension, Emma chuckled with her.
"I was getting there," Ruby explained with a wide smile that flashed pearly white teeth. "As I was trying to say…I was in the woods on my run and I almost tripped over these candles."
"Candles?"
Emma and Ruby whipped their heads to the side and noticed Regina frozen on her way to the door with her food in a carryout bag, brown eyes focused on the two of them.
Ruby frowned.
"Yeah, candles. There were maybe three of them in a pile together. Pretty used by the stubs leftover and severely burned wicks. What's it to you?"
"What kind of candles," Regina sidestepped the question.
"Uh, candles. Nothing too special about them," Ruby shrugged.
"Color?"
"Seriously," Ruby questioned. "I don't know. White?"
Regina's eyebrows shot up toward her hairline and she paled further, which Emma hadn't thought possible but apparently it was.
"Might have been darker colors there too," Ruby added and spoke to both Emma and Regina with a slightly suspicious and definitely questioning expression on her face, "but I was in wolf's form. I was a little colorblind at the time."
Regina still looked perplexed and far from okay, her eyes trained blankly on their table and not on the people she was talking to.
"Does that…mean something to you," Emma carefully asked.
Regina, mouth partially open, looked from the tabletop to Emma.
"I…I have to go," Regina said as she shuffled the rest of the way to the door and left the diner.
"I understand she's still dealing with the whole Robin thing, but…what is her deal? She seems…"
"Off," Emma finished for her and nodded as she supplied the word.
"Yeah," Ruby agreed and nodded as well. "And she didn't even stick around for the best part."
Emma cocked her head to one side.
"I also saw you and Hook," Ruby grinned.
"Oh. Yeah, that's less intriguing than the candle thing."
Ruby rolled her eyes with a smile.
"Mm, I don't think so. Candles are just candles unless Regina decides to tell us they mean something bad. You bailing on your boyfriend just before things got good is way more interesting."
Emma sighed. Another long day and another conversation about Hook. The more time she spent in the post-Marian world of Storybrooke, the more she started to wish for her own selfish reasons that she hadn't brought Robin's wife back.
Tired, light brown eyes shadowed by dark circles blearily stared down at paperwork he thought he wouldn't have to deal with, but there David sat; at his desk with blurry vision caused by sleep deprivation and a paper cup filled with station-made coffee beside him. He took a long sip from his cup and squinted at the file on his desk when he pulled the coffee away from his mouth.
"You look like hell," a familiar accent traveled across the room.
David looked up from his work and spotted Hook in the entryway with a smirk on his face. The smirk faded after a few steps into the work room.
"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you're up all night with a baby and still working full time to help make sure no one else threatens the town. Although, it'd be much easier if Emma, now that she's sheriff again because raising little Neal is a full-time job in itself, would take the brunt of the paperwork for me."
"Speaking of Emma," Hook started as he slowly took the seat on the other side of David's desk. "Lately I can't get through to her. One minute I think she's going to finally be the woman that trusted me with her son while Zelena was a problem, but then she flees in the next minute like she remembers everything else matters more than her trying to be happy."
David grunted and dropped his pen onto the paperwork before he gave Hook his full attention.
"Let me guess, she's still worried about Regina," he said it as more of a statement and it sounded flat, almost like he was disinterested and not at all surprised.
"Yes, but…now I'm not so sure that's the only thing pulling her away from me."
David furrowed his brows as he considered the new information.
"Well, I don't see much of her anymore since she and Henry moved out. I'm not sure what's going on with her, but if my short conversations with her are anything to go by I'd say she's put up some defenses again."
"You think she's closed off," Hook asked.
David shrugged.
"Seems like it. I think she's been about the same since Zelena. You know, since she was convinced it'd be best if she took Henry back to New York with her."
"But she got over that," Hook said with a confused expression. "There was a moment between us. I saw it, I felt it."
"Maybe that's all it was. A moment."
Hook frowned.
"It was right before everything with Marian blew up in her face, right?"
"Aye. It was," Hook somberly confirmed.
"Then it could have been a moment when everything felt okay so she let go of whatever was holding her back. That moment lasted up until Regina—"
Hook cut David off with a sigh and nodded.
"It always leads back to Regina, doesn't it," the pirate said.
"Well, she is Henry's other mother. She'll always matter and she'll always be a concern because of him. If something's wrong with her, we all have to deal with it."
"Because it's what Emma wants," Hook surmised.
"Henry too," David amended for him. "It used to be that Henry needed to remind us what we all refused to acknowledge. And that is that Regina is family. We don't need reminding now. We know. That's why Emma makes it a priority."
"Because she's spent long enough hearing the lad remind you all why Regina matters? Because she already knows if she doesn't help Regina, Henry will be upset."
"Right," David agreed.
"That's all then? You don't think there's another reason she's avoiding me? Even when she's with me?"
David let out a heavy sound of exasperation in the form of a noisy sigh and rubbed a hand back and forth through his messy, uncut hair.
"Emma's gonna do what she's gonna do. As much as I wish I understood my daughter, I honestly don't know why she would be pulling away all of a sudden. My only advice would be to let her come to you, give her some space. If she's anything like Snow, and I'm sure she is, she doesn't like being crowded. Sometimes you've got to let her do what she's gonna do and at some point, she might let you in. Other than that, I really can't help you."
"Right then," Hook said, defeated. "Thanks for the suggestion, mate."
Hook stood as David muttered, "Yeah" and when the prince stood to walk him out, someone else walked in.
Emma immediately stopped in the entryway when she saw David and Hook together and her mouth opened and closed a few times, like a fish out of water, in her shock.
"Hook," she managed to say as she looked between the two men. "What are you doing here?"
"Just catching up, love," Hook said with a hint of a smile. "Haven't really had a chance to talk with the beloved prince since we faced Zelena."
"How close are you two," Emma angrily asked, though she didn't raise her voice.
"We're hardly close," David answered. "We were just talking."
"About how tired the man is, in fact," Hook added and looked to David before his eyes locked onto Emma's again. "Between the little one, doing…whatever it is you two do here, and handling everything else non-magic or work related that he does, he doesn't get much rest."
Emma frowned and looked at David with concern.
"Really," she asked.
"I'll…leave you both to it," Hook said with a bigger, though noticeably forced, smile and excused himself from the station.
Emma and David watched Hook turn the corner and leave before they both returned their attention to each other.
"Do you need time off," Emma asked as she walked further into the room and went straight to her father. "There's really not much going on. Things have been pretty quiet after we figured out Elsa's thankfully not one of the bad guys."
"But I don't want to leave you to run the station by yourself," David gently argued.
"It's not that big a responsibility. I told you, there's nothing going on in Storybrooke to worry about. Well, unless whatever Regina's spooked about actually turns out to be something."
"Wait, Regina's spooked?"
"Uh, yeah. She came into the diner looking…" Emma gave David a once-over, "looking not much better than you, actually. And then Ruby was talking about candles and Regina practically ran out of Granny's."
"All the more reason for me to be here to help you."
"With what? Ruby's not exactly sure what seeing the candles means and Regina hasn't been forthcoming about what it might mean to her."
"Still, whatever it is could be dangerous. Regina doesn't 'spook' easily."
"I know. Just…take a few days off and let me worry about the potential danger. Okay?"
David sighed and sat on the edge of his desk.
"Why must you and your mother always make things difficult for me?"
Emma smiled.
"Don't blame us. You're the one who married her and I'm only the product of that union. Definitely not our fault you chose us."
David chuckled.
"You're right about that," he said and pulled her into a hug.
She briefly, and a little stiffly, hugged him back then pulled away. She still wasn't used to acts of affection that resulted from something like a shared opinion or other small moments that had nothing to do with death or oncoming curses.
"Look, if you think it's that big a deal I have some back up, I'll see if I can get Regina to open up about the candles and—"
"You really think Regina's gonna tell you anything?"
Emma shrugged.
"If something is going on, Henry's safety might be compromised. That's the magic word that could get her to talk."
David smirked.
"What," she asked.
"Nothing. Just feeling a little fatherly pride right now."
Emma laughed.
"For using Henry as a way to get Regina to talk to me?"
"For not giving up."
Emma adopted a sheepish look and David beamed at her as he imagined it's what she must have looked like when she was younger.
"I love you, Kiddo," he said as he stood then placed a kiss on the top of her head.
Emma groaned and scrunched up her face in slight displeasure as she started to squirm away.
"Yeah, yeah," she said as she took a couple steps away from him. "Just leave the sheriff-ing to me and enjoy several great naps and some family time."
"Okay, but the second you need real back up you call me. Got it?"
"And you've now moved on from proud to overprotective Dad in less than five minutes."
"Alright," he lightly laughed. "I can take a hint. I'll be at the apartment with your mother and brother."
Emma smiled and gave a curt nod as she watched him head for the door.
"See you later," he threw over his shoulder with a soft expression and gleaming eyes.
"Bye," she waved at him on his way out.
Once she was alone at the station, she walked around David's desk and looked down at what he'd been working on. She glanced over it for a few seconds before she grabbed the file and took it to her desk inside her incredibly small office. She left the door open, took her seat and got to work.
On her lunch break, Emma skipped the phone call and went straight to Regina's office. Happily married Princess Anna of Arendale sat behind a desk in the lobby. Since Regina had helped Elsa find her, the woman had been grateful and offered to fill the previously empty position of Mayor's Assistant.
Anna flashed Emma a nervous smile and stood up, but remained at her desk as she timidly spoke up to stop the sheriff.
"Sheriff Swan?"
Emma turned to the younger woman and saw a nervous smile that looked more like an apologetic grimace.
"Regina's asked that I not let you in," Anna said to her with her hands balled into fists in front of her chest, kind of childlike.
"Don't let them in, don't let them see, huh," Emma teased with a smirk.
Anna just looked confused and cocked her head to one side.
Emma chuckled and shook her head. "Never mind."
She ignored Anna's previous statements about Regina practically banning her from the office and continued toward the door.
"Sheriff," Anna pointlessly called out just as Emma pulled open Regina's door.
"Hello, your Majesty," Emma casually greeted as she walked into the office and closed the door.
"Miss Swan," Regina responded with annoyance, her eyes slowly pulled from her paperwork to the blonde by the door. "Not only are you disrespecting me by being here, but you're disrespecting Anna by disregarding her warning that you stay away from me."
Emma rolled her eyes.
"You can lecture me about ruining your day with my presence or you can get rid of me faster by answering my questions."
"Unless it has to do with Henry—"
"The look on your face at the diner earlier gives me reason enough to think this could affect him," Emma argued.
Regina's expression went from displeased to afraid in six seconds. That fear had mixed with nervousness and discomfort just as quickly and Emma no longer saw the Regina she knew. She saw a much younger and unsure version of the brunette.
"See? That look. Right there," Emma said with a finger pointed at the other woman.
Regina blinked and neutralized her features to rid herself of their revealing nature. She released her pen and let it fall onto her desk as she set her attention solely on Emma.
"I don't know anything," Regina claimed.
"Then why did you freak out," Emma skeptically asked.
"Your superpower must not be working properly," Regina spat. "I'm telling the truth."
"No," Emma continued to argue. "You know something. Whether or not you know what any of the damn candles mean, you knew about them when Ruby brought them up."
Regina clenched and unclenched her fists then pushed away from her desk and stood. She walked around to the front of her desk and anchored herself with a hand pressed to the back of the nearest visitor's chair.
"You're right," the brunette finally agreed. "I did know about the candles, but I don't know who's using them or why."
"How did you know about them in the first place?"
Regina met Emma's gaze and gulped before she averted her eyes. She didn't look fearful like she had in the diner, but it was obvious she didn't want to talk about it.
"Regina," Emma gently prodded.
The older woman sighed and her posture slumped a bit in the process.
"I found one under my pillow this morning," Regina reluctantly confessed.
Emma's eyes widened in response.
"What? Your pill—Is this…a magic thing?"
"I believe so, yes," Regina answered.
"So…what could the candles be used for?"
"Many things. I tried to find something in my books about them, but the possibilities are endless."
"Okay, something's clearly going on here. There's either a new villain in town or someone who's been here a while is finally making themselves known. Do you think whatever this person is trying to accomplish with the candles is a bad thing?"
"Given what happened before I found the candle I'd say that's an accurate assumption," Regina deadpanned.
Emma furrowed her brows and asked, "What happened?"
She watched all of Regina's walls shoot back into place and immediately she understood their conversation was over.
"Unless Henry finds any candles or sees anyone suspicious hanging around him, I think it's safe to say he's not in danger."
"Maybe not," Emma slowly said. "But you might be."
Regina scoffed.
"Oh, now you're concerned about me," she snapped. "I think it's a little late for you to finally consider how certain things might affect me."
Emma shifted her weight from one leg to the other and sighed as she briefly directed her attention to the ceiling, not quite an eye-roll. When she focused again on Regina, brown eyes sharply stared back at her and the other woman looked determined to get rid of her.
"It's time for you to leave," Regina growled. "If something else should happen before Henry comes to stay with me this weekend, I'll sacrifice overnight stays and keep visitation limited to anytime before dusk, with the exception of dinner, for his safety. And that concludes any business you have with me so you are excused…Sheriff."
The title caused Emma to change from frustrated to crestfallen. It was like she was back at the diner and Regina was telling her, "You're just like your mother." She was being shut out yet again and her expression gave away the hurt she felt because of it.
It had always been one step forward and two steps back with them and apparently that wasn't going to change anytime soon.
Emma gave a short nod of understanding and turned to the door like a wounded puppy. She left with more information than she'd had to go off of than before, but she also left with a sadness she didn't quite understand.
It was at the station when she returned from her only partially helpful lunch break that she was surprised upon entry for the second time that day. Inside, she found Robin Hood throwing darts with amazing accuracy against her abused, and usually missed due to her poor skills, dartboard.
"Ah, Emma," Robin smiled at her after he landed a shot in the bullseye just as she walked in. "Glad you're back. I was hoping to have a word with you."
Emma questioningly stared at Robin.
"I wasn't aware there was something to talk about," she said, a little confused.
"Nothing terrible," he reassured with a bigger smile. "I just wanted to know if we could schedule a time for Roland and Henry to play together. And possibly invite you and him to a housewarming dinner?"
He chuckled through his awkwardness and looked nervous as he broached the subject. She didn't know why her potential reaction would make him uneasy, but she supposed it might have to do with the completely human fear of rejection—which is probably why she felt crushed leaving Regina's office.
"Roland's always welcome to spend time with Henry. How many people are you expecting for the dinner?"
"Just your parents and hopefully you and Henry. I'm afraid we aren't very close with anyone else in town."
"Well, wouldn't that be the point of having a dinner or maybe even a party? Housewarmings are usually a time to get to know the neighbors, collect a few bottles of wine and whatever food dish they bring as gifts and mingle."
"I suppose that might be a better way to go about things," he said with a thoughtful expression as he continued to think it over.
"As for Henry and I showing up, I'll need to know when the dinner is. If it falls on a night Regina has Henry…"
"Then you'll either have to ask if he can join or it'll just be you attending. I understand," he curtly nodded and looked down at the station floor. "Right. Well, it'll be next weekend. If you need to check with Regina—"
Emma shook her head.
"He'll be back with me then. Shouldn't be a problem," she replied.
"Good," he smiled again and Emma fought the urge to squirm and nervously shift in front of him. "Next Saturday at seven then?"
Emma gave a quick nod with pursed lips and stuffed her hands in her back pockets out of nervous habit. It wasn't that she was nervous, though. She just felt a little uncomfortable with the thought of having dinner with the root of her problem with Regina. It didn't seem right, or fair for that matter.
"Alright. I'll leave you to your work," he said and started toward the door.
Emma furrowed a brow and thought about what he'd said as she slowly spun on her heel to turn to him while he made his way out of the room.
"Hey, now that you mention work," she said and caused Robin to turn back to her to give her his full attention. "What are you doing to keep yourself busy during the day?"
"Usually hunting game with my Men. Some of it we eat and some of it we hunt for fun. It's something to do. Why?"
"Would you and some of the Merry Men be interested in being part-time deputies?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, I mean, it'd be working night shifts and you'd be keeping an eye out on any suspicious activity in the park and woods. You can do the rounds in pairs and alternate who works every other night."
"That sounds…like something I'll have to talk over with my Men, but I know if you need me I'll be willing to take on the job."
"Great. Uh, see if you can get one of them to go with you tonight? I think there might be something happening in the woods and I want to start looking into it as soon as possible."
"Not a problem," he said. "I'm sure Little John wouldn't mind coming along. Shall I report back to you tomorrow at the start of your shift?"
"Actually, you can have my cell number and just let me know if you see anything worth immediate attention," she said as she scribbled out her number on the nearest sticky note. "If everything's quiet and there's nothing to report, just let me know when you come in for your shift at six. I think doing one or two sweeps from then until midnight is a decent amount of time to be on the lookout right now."
She handed him the business card and he nodded in comprehension.
"And I'll start at six every night? The Men, too?"
"Yes. You guys can work out whatever schedule you want as to who comes in on what nights. Just let me know by your shift tomorrow who's gonna be on the payroll."
Emma cringed as she reminded herself of the paperwork involved with the payroll. It meant including their salary in the budget and expenditures that would go to Regina's office and that would probably incur questions about how many people she had recently employed. That would then lead to questions about how she managed to hire so many people in such a short amount of time, or—because Regina's smart enough to figure it out without playing twenty questions—she'd know right away that Emma had asked Robin and the Merry Men to work at the station with her. She really didn't look forward to that conversation, mostly because it would be an argument and not an actual discussion.
"Something wrong," Robin asked, which brought Emma out of her thoughts to remember that she wasn't alone in the station.
"Yeah—I mean, no. No, nothing's wrong. I was just thinking about the paperwork I'll have to fill out once we know how many of the guys will agree to work."
"Ah. I imagine that won't be a good time."
"Not in the slightest."
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow," he said and resumed his walk toward the exit.
"Yeah," she muttered more to herself than in response to him.
She turned away from him and faced the room. She took stock of the three empty desks positioned between the only two cells the station had and the cramped space that was her office. It wasn't very lively at the time, but that was good. She hated small and crowded places. Asking Robin and his band of thieves to join the tiny police force of Storybrooke, however? She had a feeling that would make things a little livelier and if there was a threat—even if it was only posed against Regina—that would mean an investigation and nights spent worrying about the threat's next move. Her days would, no doubt, be even longer than they already were if that happened.
Crossbow in hand, Robin walked along the edges of the woods in the later hours of the evening. It was a little after eleven and Little John had lingered several feet behind him with a weapon of his own to more effectively do a sweep of the sleepy town. In case something happened after Robin had moved past a certain area, Little John was there to catch whatever or whoever in the act and he wasn't too far from Robin in case one of them needed assistance.
The moon was bright, but no longer full, through the trees and the thin autumn fog that covered the higher altitudes of Storybrooke. The wind rarely howled with the lack of breeze that night. The weather was, interestingly enough, muggy and sweat slid down the back of Robin's neck and beaded on his forehead. He swiped the back of his hand across his forehead and the back of his wrist skimmed the tops of his brow. The action didn't provide much relief, but the thief was used to unpleasant weather conditions. The Enchanted Forest was a big place and with royalty and their loyal guards to hide from in the thick of the brush, it wasn't an easy life he and the Men lived as they traveled from kingdom to kingdom to help the poor villages and their desperate and gracious people.
It had been hours of uneventful nothingness between the station, the park, and the trail they'd walked up until the area of the woods they currently passed. Robin took what he was doing seriously, but as he wandered through the quiet town he wondered what exactly would be happening in it that required extra help.
Just as thoughts like that came to mind, he saw a flickering light not too far beyond the tree line in the woods. He stared at it through squinted eyes with a curious look on his face. He continued to walk along the edge of the woods were grass and twigs met asphalt, but kept his focus on the light. As his line of sight cleared after passing a few of the trees that blocked his view of the area the light came from, the flickering appeared through a window in alternating glows of oranges, reds, and golden yellows. Smoke billowed out from a chimney and darkened a small range of the overhead fog within and above the large and healthy trees all around the woods. He had spent a year and four months in Storybrooke, but that hadn't been long enough to know whether or not someone actually lived in a cabin in the woods. He wasn't even sure the fire inside meant someone lived there. Whoever was in the cabin could have very well been a couple spending a night in an intimate setting to rekindle the flame of their relationship. It could have been a sweet end to a lovely first date or it could have been a couple of teens who had run off to spend the night there just for the hell of it.
He filed away the apparent occupancy in the cabin, but kept his crossbow at his side and his phone tucked away in his pocket. He wasn't sure seeing a shadow dancing along the wall on occasion inside a cabin was anything urgent. Emma hadn't even seemed too worried about what might be out there when she gave him the assignment so he figured whatever it was could wait. If anything really was going on there, there was a chance Little John might see more cause for alarm as he passed.
Robin continued on his way in the loop around town that would bring both of them back to the station for the end of their shift. In the six hours they had walked through the less populated areas of town, all they had seen was a fire going in the cabin. When they'd reached the station, they agreed they both had seen the fire and nothing else so they called it a night and parted ways.
He held a candle in each hand at an angle into the fire to light the wick. Once a flame caught on each one, he repeated the action with three other candles and formed a circle with them on the cabin floor. Though there were no lines drawn with herbs or any kind of writing utensil, each candle served as a point in a pentagram.
The smell of wormwood and Solomon's seal filled the room from the coffee table that was set up like an altar. Only the sound of popping and crackling fire warded off silence and the fire in the fireplace as well as on the candle wicks were the only source of light throughout the cabin. The same picture brought into Regina's home for a simple spell three nights prior sat against one of the candles lit by the cabin's fire. The image of a royal man with curly gray hair that didn't reach the top of his head, a bald spot there that was covered by the strategic use of a crown, was clear as it faced outward from the candle.
He settled onto the floor in front of the circle of candles, which put him an equal distance from the coffee table and fireplace. He took a deep breath and knelt before the candles then waited until less than a minute remained before the stroke of midnight to add his voice to the sounds within the confined area.
"Hecate, I call to you and ask a favor," his deep voice broke through the air around him with a subtle Spanish accent. "I ask you to bring forth a lost and dark spirit. He is noble in his right to be given a chance to return to this plane of existence and to be reunited with his proper body. Hecate, I ask you to return King Leopold White."
Wind whirled around the room and the candles' flames rose higher. The fire in the fireplace picked up as well and slowly, it arced and burned toward the center inside the circle of candles. Every bit of fire in the room then swirled together inside the circle and rose higher still to form a high-walled ring of fire. The wind only stopped when the fire within the circle died down and revealed a man in its wake.
Before him, the man in the picture propped against one of the nearest of the candles stood with the same shocked expression he'd last made with his face during his last moment alive. His veins appeared black from the viper's venom that killed him for only a moment before it faded and his skin looked as unmarred as it had been before he was bitten. His shock wore off with the fading effects of the venom and he inspected his new surroundings, curious but not entirely confused. After several seconds, once everything within the cabin was as calm as it had been before the summoning, his eyes found the reason for his return.
"I know you," he said with a looked of partly surprised recognition.
"My King," the man with the almost undetectable accent said with a polite and necessary bow of his head before he raised it to give the royal his attention again. "Welcome to Storybrooke."
A/N: And there's chapter 2! Let me know what you think so far of this mystery and thanks for reading. I hope you'll stick with me through this journey that will definitely be leading to not only answers about "the big bad" but also Swan Queen! Like I said in the first chapter, it will be a slow burn, but don't worry. There will be plenty of Emma and Regina moments throughout. :)