Finally Home: Chapter 3
"You sure you want to do this kid?"
Emma asked Henry curiously. He had begged Emma to go back to Reginas for days now, and honestly, Emma was hesitant. She knew Regina wouldn't ever hurt Henry, and she kind of owed her after she brought back Marian from the past, but she hated the thought of Henry not always being around. Despite their lives not being completely real in New York, Emma having Henry to herself was great. Of course she didn't remember Regina at the time, but always having her son there for her was a great feeling. That's a big part of the reason she wanted to return to their old lives after defeating Zelena. After not being in Henrys life for so long, she wanted as much time with him as she could possibly have before he grew up.
"Yes mom. She.. well, she needs me. She's not doing that great. And I know that this isn't your fault. You were trying to save a persons life. It's what heroes do."
Henry told her with a confident smile. He really did have the heart of the truest believer. Emma returned the smile and picked up Henrys duffel bag.
"Well then we better not be late."
She said while walking to the door, as Henry smiled and ran after her.
"Hey mom!" Henry exclaimed as Regina opened the door. He practically jumped into her arms, and Regina looked down to him, (which wasn't far now, since he was getting so tall), smiling as brightly as she could under the circumstances.
"It's nice to see you too, Henry. I made your favorite lunch. It's on the table if you're hungry."
She said with a motherly smile. Henry hugged her one last time and ran into kitchen, hoping to give his moms a chance to try and work things out. Regina sighed and attempted to close the door, just before Emma stopped it with a loud thud.
"Regina can we just talk abo-"
" I have NOTHING to say to you Miss Swan!"
Regina interrupted. Her eyes were starting to become glassy, but she quickly collected herself and have Emma a glare that chilled her bones.
"First you conspire to take my son from me, AGAIN, and then you bring back the woman who Robins heart previously belonged to! All your family ever does is TAKE. I am avoiding you as much as possible for Henrys sake, because being around you and the uncharmings brings back darkness that I do not wish to feel anymore. Consider yourself lucky, Miss Swan. You have your parents, that ridiculous pirate and you have Henry. Everything I have ever loved has been taken from me. I WILL NOT lose my son as well because of your lack of intelligence. So for the best interest of everyone, leave me the HELL alone."
Regina spat at Emma and slammed the door in her face. Emma stood there for a few moments, guilt and shock flooding over her. She had never thought of things that way. Granted she didn't know all of Regina's story, preferably skipping over those parts of Henrys story book. But she knew herself and Regina did share a quality, despite all of their differences.. That they both had pasts filled with loss and despair. She was contemplating on wether or not to knock again when her phone rang. She took it as a sign to give Regina the space she had demanded, and started walking back to her bug as she pulled out her phone and saw that it was David.
"Dad? What's up?"
She heard a few moments of silence on the other line, probably due to the fact that she answered the phone saying dad instead of David.
"Hey Emma.. I need you to meet me at the town line. Robins merry men were out there hunting and they came across something strange."
"The town line? Please tell me there aren't sill flying monkeys out there."
Charming chuckled briefly before saying
"No it wasn't a flying monkey. I don't know exactly what it is, but they were worried enough to find me in town so it must be important."
"Alright, I'll meet you there. Bye Dad."
Emma hung up the phone before her father got a chance to become emotional. Calling him dad once was one thing, but twice in one phone call and she figured she would find him at the town line holding back tears. Emma smiled to herself as she thought about her dad and her mom, who were always there for her. Even though David wasn't technically the sheriff or even the deputy, he had immediately stepped up and filled her position while she and her mother were in the enchanted forest, and as time went on and she became closer with her parents, the job just kind of stuck. Always having him there with her was comforting and helped her become closer with her father. During her lonely nights in the foster system as a child, Emma would lay awake for hours thinking about what her parents were like. She always imagined herself as a "daddy's girl", and turns out she actually was one. She grinned once more and started the bug, driving towards the mysterious object in the woods, knowing nothing of what was to come..
As Emma pulled up to the town line, she was pleasantly surprised to see Killian standing next to her father and Robin, looking to be deep in serious conversation. Emma opened the door to her bug and shut it with a bit more force than necessary, to try get a certain someones attention. All of the men jumped slightly at the sudden noise, except Killian. His eyes found Emma's immediately, and giving her a wide grin that made her heart flutter, he stepped past Robin and David to her. She could tell it was taking all of his strength to refrain from pulling her into his arms, which she felt a bit guilty for. She still wasn't really comfortable with PDA, despite feeling so comfortable with Killian. His eyes were practically burning into hers, so she grabbed his hand and squeezed it lovingly, looking up to him and saying
"Hello Killian.. Don't take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here?"
As he smiled back to her she noticed his cheeks become flushed just for a moment. He scratched behind his ear for a few seconds smiling, a nervous habit Emma only began to notice a few weeks ago. And she had to admit, it was actually kind of adorable.
"Turns out Swan, your father asked me along. Said you could use the back up."
Killian said as he winked at her. Emma looked back to David who was clearly a bit uncomfortable, and gave him a grateful smile before mouthing "thank you" to him while Killian wasn't looking. David gave her his classic charming smile, and decided to try and change the subject.
"Robin, now that we're all here, can you tell us again exactly what your men saw?"
Charming said in his serious tone.
Robin nodded and motioned for Charming, Emma and Killian to follow him. Him and men seemed to be a bit hesitant to tell them what they had seen, which made them quite suspicious. Emma and Killian shared a glance that if saying "I've got your back", and followed Robins men deeper into the woods.
"There. That's the cave where they saw the strange light coming from."
Robin said as he pointed to cave about 20 feet away. Killian and David looked to each other confused, wondering why they had stopped so far away from the cave. Emma's eyes widened and her breath hitched, causing Killian to turn to her with a concerned expression.
"Swan? What is it?"
He said in a soft tone. Emma stood dazed for a moment, and studied the woods closely before saying
"The cave.. It's over the town line. And there's.. magic inside."
Killian processed the thought for a moment, before the realization hit him.
"Magic isn't supposed to exist over there.."
David looked to Emma who was still in a bit of shock herself, but she was able to nod to David, confirming what Killian had just said.
"What are we going to do? None of us can go over the town line without losing our memories."
David said trying to come up with a plan. He was about to suggest that they go to Gold, but before he could say anything Emma had already pulled out her gun and was about to cross the line. Charming grabbed her arm protectively, not letting her cross.
"Emma, no. We have no idea who or what the hell is over there. I can't go with you and I'm not letting you do this alone."
He said in a stern voice. Sure, his daughter was a 30 year old woman, and he knew that she could take care of herself, but she was still his daughter and his fatherly instincts still overpowered him a lot of the time. She gave him her "really dad?" expression and was about to protest when she was interrupted by someone.
"Who said she was going alone?"
Killian said with his signature sheepish grin. Emma rolled her eyes and smiled back to him and then turned to David, talking to him gently.
"Dad, I'll be fine. We need to figure out what's over there and we don't have time to ask Gold or Regina for help, and frankly I don't think either of them would be willing to help me at the moment."
Emma saw Robin tense out of the corner of her eye, mentally slapping herself for mentioning Regina in front of him. There was an awkward silence for a few moments, until resuming her protest to David
" Dad, Killian's had my back more times than I can count. We'll check it out, come back and everything will be fine. We're a pretty good team after all."
Emma told him smiling. She turned to see Killian grinning at her, and she stood there staring at him for a moment until David cleared his throat, causing both Emma and Killian to blush slightly. He looked back and forth between Emma and the former-pirate, knowing there was no stopping them now.
"Alright, fine. But Emma, please.. just be careful."
David said in a pleading tone. He was pleasantly surprised when Emma stretched out her arms and hugged him briefly, smiling at him again before walking over to Killian. His daughter being affectionate towards him never got old, and he was glad that she was finally comfortable with acknowledging the fact that he was her father. Emma walked over to Killian, and put her hand on his back gently.
"You ready for this?"
She asked him, regretting her choice of words the minute she said them. He may have changed a lot since they first met, but his suggestive behavior had always stayed. And Emma didn't exactly hate that.. He studied her face briefly, then grinned at her and raised his eyebrow suggestively. He stepped closer to her, practically whispering
"Please, Swan, I'm always ready for you."
She slapped him on the arm and tried to hide her giggle, quickly recovering and getting her "game face" on. She unholstered her gun and made sure it was chambered. They shared a final serious glance, then stepped over the town line. Once they were across, Emma looked back to David and gave him an encouraging smile. She and Killian made their way towards the cave, taking each step with extreme caution. Killian stopped about 5 feet from the cave entrance, his instincts telling him that this was too easy.
"Love, maybe we shou-
He was cut off by the sound of Emma screaming. She had hit a magical barrier and was sent flying backwards, hitting a tree very hard in the process. Killian's heart dropped and he ran towards her as fast as he possibly could.
"EMMA!"
He heard David yell from back across the town line. Killian had to make sure Emma was alright, or he was fairly certain the protective prince would try to cross the line anyways. When he finally reached Emma, he was relieved to see that she wasn't fully unconscious. He knelt down and took her in his arms, cradling her head and brushing her hair out of her face.
"Love, Emma, can you hear me? Are you alright?
He said in a soft voice. Killian tried to keep calm, but seeing Emma hurt made him panic.
She slowly opened her eyes all the way, and Killian heard her mutter
"Ugh son of a bitch that hurt."
Killian let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, and laughed softly. Knowing she was still too weak to walk, he picked her up and carried her back to her frantic father. David practically stole Emma from Killian's arms, taking her in his own and setting her down on a tree stump gently.
"Emma.. oh my god are you okay?! Can you hear me? Can you see properly? Do you feel dizzy or sick or we-
"DAVID, I'm. fine."
Emma said with an aggravated grunt. His heart clenched at the sound of her calling him David, and she must have seen the way he face started to drop because she took his hand and smiled at him before saying
"Sorry, dad, I'm just pissed that I didn't see that stupid barrier sooner."
He smiled back at her and helped her sit up. Emma looked up to Killian, who was at her side within seconds. He put his hand at the small of her back holding her gently, and she rested her head on his shoulder. David took that as a sign to give them their distance, so he stood and walked over to Robin.
"What on EARTH was that?!"
Robin asked with a confused and concerned expression.
"I have no idea.."
Charming said looking back to Emma, a worried look on his face.
"Well whatever it was, it sure knows how to throw a punch."
Emma said with an aggravated grunt. She wasn't really able to stand, fearing that she may show too much weakness if she attempted to stand an fell over. Killian smiled lovingly at her and continued to caress her back.
"That's my Swan, even after being knocked nearly unconscious you can still make a joke."
"I was NOT almost knocked unconscious!"
Emma snapped at him while attempting to stand, almost falling before Killian caught her quickly.
"Yes because not being able to stand is a sign of complete an utter grace."
He teased at her.
"Oh shut up Hook!"
Emma shot back with a defeated sigh. Killian smiled down to her and looked to David, who was watching their exchange closely, and who smiled at him briefly. David broke the silence by directing a question at the former pirate.
"Hook do you have any idea what or even who that could have been? You have, well, experiences with magic in the real world."
Killian nodded at the statement and thought for a moment before answering
"I'm not sure, Dave. As far I knew, there was no magic in the other part of this realm.. Not even Rumplestiltskin was able to keep his powers when he crossed the town line."
He knew firsthand, (again, no pun intended, just how powerful the Dark One was. If eve he was not able to retain his abilities in the land without magic,
"Then who the hell are we dealing with?"
Emma said as if reading his mind. They all looked back and forth at each other, knowing that this new threat to Storybrooke would be unlike anything they had ever faced before.
