3.12 "New York City Serenade": A collection of missing scenes from Emma's POV

"Hook."

"Did you miss me?"

They're walking, and he's going on again about baloney sandwiches and Jell-O and other horrifying delicacies that she grew up eating. Emma can only make herself half pay attention, but that's probably why he's doing it. Silence would be too heavy, and he knows her well enough to know that she needs a moment (or several) to sort all the memories back into place. Her parents are in danger, but she can't even wrap her head around the fact that she knows who they are, let alone snap into saviour-mode just yet.

She doesn't even realize that they've reached her building (or that that's where they were headed) until they've stopped outside the front gate. She bites the inside of her lip and meets Hook's eyes for the first time since drinking the potion. He's stopped his treatise on the virtues of Enchanted Forest cuisine and is watching her, waiting.

Emma swallows the lump in her throat. "Henry is upstairs and I…"

"Aye, I understand. You need time to explain to the lad."

She shakes her head. "I can't yet. I don't even know…" She sighs, presses her lips together, and starts again. "I'm supposed to drop him off at a friend's around six thirty. Can you come back then and fill me in on everything?"

Hook nods. "I'll be here."

"Thank you."

He quirks an eyebrow at her and she refuses to blush as the memory of gratitude floats to the surface. He doesn't say anything, just gives a slight bow of the head and then turns to walk away. Emma is suddenly reminded of the last time, the last real time, at the town line, and she has to suck in a breath to keep from calling after him. She chews the inside of her lip as she watches him go. He doesn't look back.

You'll see him tonight, she reminds herself. She's glad there's a bottle of rum sitting in her liquor cabinet.


"What in blazes was that?"

"A reminder. That I was never safe."

It's easier this way, in some twisted sense of the word. At least she doesn't have to feel guilty about ending things and leaving town so suddenly. At least if it was fake like everything else there shouldn't be any lingering might have been's. (There are, but that's another matter.) (She doesn't think they're about him, specifically.) The fight has brought her out of her head and back into her body. She feels like the saviour again, like the sheriff, and she's planning out all the things that have to get done tonight and making a mental packing list when she realizes that there was no body on the sidewalk and Henry might have told Walsh where he was planning on being that night.

She really cannot handle another Operation Cobra Rescue right now.

Hook is watching her, cataloguing her movements in that way that he does. She ignores him and puts the rum away then pulls out her phone to call Henry.

He's not happy about her coming to get him, but he's a smart kid and he senses that something is off so he doesn't complain.

Emma and Hook are outside the building when she realizes that she still has no idea what she's going to tell her son. She wonders if maybe she can just stuff him full of ice cream and pack once he goes to bed.

"Where have you been staying?"

Hook's thumb tucks into his belt. It makes her wonder where he got the fake hand from this time around. "At Neal's. I made sure to be scarce after giving you the address."

Emma nods, but then winces a little. "Henry's friend lives in the other direction. I would offer you a ride but—"

"Go see to your lad. Are you certain you don't wish for me to accompany you? If you're attacked again—"

"I've got it covered." She follows his gaze as it flicks down to where her hand rests on her gun. "I'll see you in the morning?"

"Aye." A pause and then, "Sweet dreams, Swan."

She smiles and gets into the car, watching him walk away through the rear view mirror as she pulls onto the street.


"Why are you wearing that?"

"Why are you wearing that?"

The first hour goes okay, but the two of them start to drive her crazy before long. Emma really wants to stretch her legs, but after his rant about baloney yesterday she's more than a little afraid of taking Killian into a rest stop to re-fuel. He's over three hundred years old, yet he's been bickering with her son like a child. It's playful, (mostly) but Emma recalls a lighter and a shadow and wonders if it wasn't jealousy over Neal but really just the pirate being an actual thirteen year-old boy. Neverland is the place where you never grow up, after all.

She smirks at the thought and ignores Hook's questioning look. Cranking up her playlist of driving songs, she tells Henry to leave Killian alone and to start playing on his iPad, then shoots Hook a warning glance. He grins at her in response and turns his head to look out the window.

Emma ignores the way her stomach flips because this feels familiar, feels good, but it's one thing she's certain she's never had in either set of memories. It's just nerves about going back, she tells herself.

She keeps driving. She can wait a bit longer before braving a restaurant with them.

(She's a little insulted when Hook later chooses Henry's lunch recommendation over hers.)


"Where are you going?"

"To talk to my parents."

David comes down to the bug with her to help bring the bags up and Hook pushes off from the side of the car when he sees them approach. The two men greet each other with a handshake, and Emma watches the silent conversation that passes between her father and the pirate from the corner of her eye as she moves to wake Henry up.

"Henry, this is David. We're going to be staying with him and his wife for a little bit."

He's groggy, but he shakes David's hand before rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Where's Killian staying?"

Her eyes flick up to Hook but it's David who speaks, slinging a bag over his shoulder. "You're welcome to the couch, if you want."

"Think I'll take my chances at the inn, mate."

David shrugs and starts to lead her son towards the loft. Emma takes her time locking the bug and grabbing the last of the bags.

"We'll see you at Granny's in the morning?"

"Aye."

She nods and gives him a small smile. "Goodnight, Hook."

"Welcome home, Swan."

It's the third time in two days that she's watched him walk away. Something unclenches in her gut when she realizes it's not the number of times that he leaves she should be counting but the number of times he comes back.

She heads back to the loft and checks on Henry. New York had been a good dream, but maybe its legacy doesn't have to be the loss of her happy ending. Maybe the ease of happiness she had there can help her find the good moments among the curses and the chaos.

Even before finding out her parents had (most of) their memories, she knew she wasn't going to be alone in it this time.

"Welcome to Storybrooke, kid," she murmurs, ruffling a hand through his hair.

She's at the top of the stairs, about to go unwind from the drive with her parents and a glass of wine when Henry's voice reaches her.

"Mom? Why was Killian wearing a hook?"

He came back to save her.


Not really sure what this is, but I needed something to make the timeline make sense - i.e. why Emma drank the potion in the afternoon but was only drinking with Hook at night, and why Henry would come home for breakfast inbetween a sleepover and going to school.