What Was Lost: Part 2
By Arianwen P.F. Everett
"You're the Savior, Miss Swan! You're supposed to kill that witch!" Mr. Gold, a.k.a Rumplestiltskin wailed in rage. Regina had gone too far kidnapping his dear Belle and shutting her up in an asylum, and now she would pay.
"I was the Sheriff before I was the Savior and I won't kill anyone unless it's in self defense. This is not your fairytale land, Mr. Gold; this is the State of Maine. Right now I'm putting together a case, 1,409 counts of kidnapping. You and Miss French are already listed among those names. If I can get corroborating evidence or statements from reliable witnesses, I can bring unlawful imprisonment to the DA on Miss French's behalf. I'm also reopening the case of Sheriff Humbert... Graham's death to see if the coroner has changed his opinion as to cause of death now that his judgment is no longer influenced by the curse. We can put her away for life. The fairies have told me they once built a cage for you so they can build one for her, but I will not execute her!" Emma shouted back. Rumplestiltskin would not intimidate her, with or without magic. She was just as angry at him as she was at Regina. Gold would have been perfectly cool with Henry dying so long as the curse had ended and magic had been brought back, and as Regina had said, he had orchestrated everything.
"You were the Savior from the moment you were conceived, and as for your world's legal inventions like jury trials and human rights, we'll soon see how they holds up against the kind of dark magic the Queen is capable of," Gold warned, sneering at the blonde's continued refusal to bow to her destiny. She might have accepted who she was, but she had no idea what she was still meant to accomplish and how her world's virtuous ideals were completely incompatible with those deeds.
Before Emma could reply, her phone went off. Grateful to end this conversation, she swiftly answered it. "Sheriff Swan."
"There's been an incident at the wishing well. Someone dumped hospital files all over the place," the voice on the other end quickly spat out.
Before Emma could respond, she heard a dial tone. Well, a Sheriff's job was never done. "Look, Mr. Go… Rumplestiltskin, I promise you I'm taking Miss French's accusations extremely seriously, and doing everything I can to locate Regina, but right now, I have to go. Miss French, I will call you later this afternoon to arrange a time where you can come in and give an official statement," Emma called back as she neared the pawn shop's door.
"Thank you, Sheriff," Belle offered, having more confidence than her love did. Her nature was more trusting, but on some deep level it pleased her that he felt so protective. She was grateful for Emma's efforts on her behalf, but her faith would always be steadfastly planted with Rumplestiltskin.
When Emma's VW bug finally reached the wishing well, she groaned inwardly. Dealing with Gold had been difficult enough, now she had to undertake a massive clean up. Getting out of her car, she approached the folders. She picked up one and flipped through it. Her eyes widened, as she came to understand just what these files were. They weren't mere medical documentation. These were sperm donor files. Despite all the old jokes about robbing a sperm bank, she had no idea why anyone would go to so much effort to dump the lab's paperwork. It seemed to serve no purpose and yet she couldn't deny the existence of the files surrounding her feet. She needed help from someone at the hospital. She scrolled through her phone's contact list and found Doctor Whale's number. She didn't know who he had been in fairytale land, but his experience as a physician was all she needed. She just hoped he wouldn't hit on her again. The fact that he'd had a one night stand with her mother a few months back was bad enough.
Thirty minutes later, Dr. Whale's SUV pulled up with the doctor and four other people Emma could only assume were file clerks and an orderly by the way they were dressed. "Thank you for coming, Dr. Whale."
"This is amazing. Things have been so busy around the hospital, we didn't realize till an hour before you called that these files had gone missing. We were searching all over the place. We never would have thought to look in the middle of the woods," Dr. Whale stated, astounded and still confused about what exactly had happened.
"Do you have any idea who could have done this? And why sperm donor records of all things," Emma asked, watching as the orderly and clerks went about their business cleaning up the mess.
"Not a clue. When you called, I alerted the Andrology lab to where you'd found their files and they brought in security. They're looking for signs of a break in as we speak. I have to get back to the hospital as soon as the files are boxed, but Mr. Gisborne, the head of security told me to inform you that he'd be speaking with you sometime this week," Dr. Whale explained before popping the hatch on his SUV and pulling out empty boxes with the hospital logo on them.
Emma shook her head in the negative. "Actually, I'll be calling Mr. Gisborne myself. Those files are evidence in the investigation of Paige McCarthy's disappearance. The Mad Hatter's hat was found less than a quarter mile up the road. That can't be a coincidence."
"Then why call me out here?" Dr. Whale asked, frustrated that he had to return to the hospital sans files.
"I called you out here to ask you some questions, not to retrieve your paperwork. You're the one who brought the clean up crew," Emma replied defensively. She had not been capricious, just practical. These files needed to be organized, and she had no deputies to handle the work.
With the curses' breaking and the return of magic, Regina had gone into hiding to regroup for the next battle. Emma suspected that her regrouping was more internal, due to her loss of Henry. She knew the woman had spoken the truth about her love for her son, but her love didn't change the fact that she was dangerous and unbalanced. Henry was a child who needed protection and a mother whose reputation didn't automatically threaten his safety. Now that the curse was broken, Regina could no longer provide either.
What the future held, Emma couldn't know, but if Regina was captured alive, she would advocate for her incarceration over execution. She'd meant what she told Rumplestiltskin, despite her own time in prison, she still believed in civil justice over mob justice, but her primary motivation was Henry's mental health. If Regina was ripped apart by the angry townspeople, there would always be a void in her son's soul. Henry might not love Regina as a mother, but one day he would look back and realize that she'd done her best for him. Then an unimaginable guilt would overtake him for casually tossing her aside when she needed his love most. Emma remembered Mr. Gold telling her that evil was not born, it was made, and Emma swore she wouldn't allow it to be made of her son.
Right now she had to figure out where the file folders fit into all this. The hat excuse was just that. She knew Jefferson and his kid were long gone, and had he been the paper mache artist at the wishing well, she definitely would have noticed it over the four day search of the area after finding the hat. Having just reclaimed his daughter, he wouldn't have risked coming back to pull a prank, Mad Hatter or not.
However, that didn't mean the two incidents were unconnected. Her gut instinct told her there was a connection. She just had to put the puzzle together.