Hi, so here is another chapter. This one is covers the death of Graham, and a flashback as we move more into Season 1. Some parts will be skipped over as this story is AU but I will try and keep it as real to the narrative as I can.
Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.
Please Read and Review and I will try and do one more chapter before uni and irregular updates.
And let me know what you think.
Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)
Chapter 4-Goodbye, Farewell and Amen.
Tragedy strikes Emma and the town of Storybrooke. Jack has an interesting encounter with his grandson, his daughter's roommate and Regina Mills all in the same day. Regina finds herself in a surprising moment of weakness.
Boston-Then
The phone call gets him up out of bed in an instant. He has no idea what the hell Emma is doing by saying that she wanted a year after High School by herself and how that turned into two with only sporadic phone calls to remind him that his daughter is still alive. But he's a marine by trade and even though it's December and he's cold and he knows that Emma wouldn't be ringing this late he's up out of bed and answering the phone before he can stop himself.
"Dad?" And that is the first killer because Emma only ever calls him that when she's in some serious shit.
"Em?"
"I need your help. Neal he…he ran off and I'm in jail"
Jack closes his eyes and tries not to both laugh and cry whatever comes first. He should have known this would happen eventually. Emma and that boy…well instincts tell him enough and he only meet him once.
A part of him, the selfish part of him that rowed with Emma when he told him this boy was no good, that he was never going to be the right man for her and that something like this would happen wants to make her stew a bit. It's four AM and even if he could get to where she is It's not like he can do anything until the morning when the judge comes to court. Even then he can only pay her bail.
But the other part of him that made a promise to a little thin blonde girl with bruises on her arm that looked at him as if she didn't know weather or not he was going to send her back for being too much trouble remembers the promise he made her that day. That no matter how much trouble she was he wouldn't abandon her like her own biological parents had done. That part of him knew he couldn't let her down now no matter what she had done.
"Where are you Em?"
She sobs over the phone as the reality sets in and Jack gets to his car feeling the urge to find Neal Cassidy and show him what happens when you hurt Marine's whole worlds. Even if he has ran off there is going to be a reckoning between this man and Jack and he knows he isn't going to be the one to fall.
He looks forwards to it already.
But first he has to go and collect and help and protect his emotional, hysterical and broken hearted daughter.
That's the promise he made. That's the one he's gonna stick to no matter what she does. After all what are Dad's for?
Storybrooke. Now.
His cell rang and Jack swore rolling over. He had been in worse places to sleep including the floor with nothing but sand as a pillow and snatches of sleep in the back of a Humvee but this was shaping up to be in the top ten places that would kill his back.
Granny's Bed and Breakfast was clean and the woman had a soft spot it seemed for dogs and had given Reggie some liver that he had enjoyed a bit too much in Jack's opinion and a room that was clean and overlooking the forest.
He had been sleeping. He checked caller ID and sat upwards when he saw Emma's name. What the hell was she doing calling him at this time at night? Especially because they now only lived a small walk away from each other. What the hell had gone wrong now?
"Em this had better be good" He said sitting up.
"It's Graham" she said and there was something in her voice that made him pause. Emma had never sounded like that before, like the world had been ripped out from under her. Sure there had been a couple of times where he had heard her wobble a bit when it came to Neal Cassidy and the havoc he had raised but she had never sounded so much like a lost little girl as she had done so in that moment.
"Your boss?" Yeah that was the man. He had only seen him in passing, some rugged looker who should have been on the set of some movie. Talk about not your typical cop.
"Yeah he…err…he died. They say his heart gave out. Dad…one minute we were kissing and the next he was collapsing on top of me and I don't know what to do…he died in my arms"
And then she collapsed into tears.
"Emma" he said down the phone in his best officer's voice the kind that had picked up more than a few kids in his time in uniform after a hit and got them back to work. "Emma where are you right now?"
"Hospital. I rode with him but…there was nothing they could do"
"Ok, I'm coming to meet you ok? Stay there"
Emma nodded or he liked to think she nodded and then hung up the phone.
He was already reaching for his jeans before the dial tone hit.
Emma was at the hospital when he arrived. He could see her a mile off, her blonde hair was a mess and she looked like she was one breath away from falling apart. The second she saw him however she leapt up from her seat and hugged him. The force of it knocked his breath sideways. Emma was not what you would call the hugging type. Never had been. But then again neither had he.
There was a man sitting next to her. He was blonde and well muscled like he had worked in some form of labour for a long time and he looked ill at ease. Emma pulled back wiping her eyes on the back of her hand and then turning to the man.
"Dad this is David Nolan. David Nolan this is my adoptive father Jack Reynolds. David called the ambulance for me when he arrived at the station to see if Graham wanted a beer" her voice became slightly choked before she broke off. David Nolan stood up, he had rather bright eyes and there was something about him that reminded Jack of Emma when she was a kid. It was strange. But then again everything in this town was strange when a man who was mid twenties suddenly keeled over for no good reason and was dead before he hit the floor.
"Thanks for being there" he said holding out his hand because to be fair to the other man he didn't have to stay with Emma until he arrived. David Nolan smiled and wow he had nice teeth.
"Don't worry about it Mr Reynolds. Honest, Graham was a good person."
There was the sound of running heals and then Regina Mills was there. She shot Emma a poisonous look and then she turned to the doctor. The woman behind her had short cropped hair blushed when she saw David Nolan who had suddenly become very interested in the ceiling fan and then hugged Emma.
"Oh Emma. I was so worried when you called. Oh God. Poor Graham"
Jack blinked. She was very…chipper…for four in the morning he noted.
"Mary Margaret this is my adoptive father Jack. Dad, my new roommate and Henry's teacher Mary Margaret Blanchard."
Jack nodded feeling a headache coming on. He had no idea what had happened and he had idea what to make of all of these people that he was meeting but he did notice the look Regina Mills shot his kid. It was half calculation, half hate that went he thought beyond what you might typically feel towards your son's biological mother. There was something about that woman. Jack didn't think Henry was in danger but as for Emma…well he would admit that he was glad he was here sooner rather than later.
Henry had been sat at his castle kicking the ground moodily. Ok. So his mother had won the Sherriff's position. And he supposed he would be sad if his other mother evil or not had been burned alive by Mr Gold who was still as confusing as ever and not easy to see in the book. It was like whenever Henry tried to look for him he disappeared. Like magic. Well…it was magic but that was beside the point.
There was a bit of good in this world but not much. His Mom would play dirty and Emma wouldn't.
"Kid is it safe up there?"
He looked down to see Jack…no his grandpa standing there eyeing the castle with distrustful eyes. Henry nodded clutching the book to him as his grandpa climbed to the edge. He didn't dangle his legs off they touched the ground but he could at least see what Henry was looking at.
"You know the view aint half bad here you know" he said looking around. "Can see why you like it. Lots of places to think and breathe in the air and not smell smoke"
"Why would I smell smoke?" Henry asked. His granddad shook his head smiling sadly. "Old Marine thing" he said finally.
"I thought you'd be with Emma. She won for you by the way. She wanted to make you proud of her, seems a pretty poor way to repay her sulking here"
"I'm not sulking" Henry immediately defended himself. "I…I don't know what to do about the curse. Evil keeps winning"
"Oh boy kiddo and I thought Emma had some issues"
"You don't believe me. Emma doesn't believe me. Nobody believes me!" he cried.
"Of course nobody believes you" Granddad said looking at him.
"Would you believe you if you heard your story?"
That was…that was…oh that was a point.
"This world kiddo, it aint kind. Lots of evil that doesn't come in the form of Queens or whatnot. Trust me I've seen it. I've watched men die who had families and loved ones, I've seen kids younger than you clutch their parents bodies. Evil is out there doesn't have to be in some curse. And even if what you say is true then even if you break this thing it doesn't mean your Mom isn't going to be defeated overnight. And good people can do bad things. God knows I have. You think good cannot kill? I made a career out of it, I wasn't even a regular solider, I fixed the cars up but I had a weapon and I have blood on my hands in more ways than one I can assure you."
"That's different" Henry said thought he wasn't sure how.
His granddad gave him a slow long smile that told him that he knew it wasn't but he didn't elaborate even though Henry had to admit he was curious.
"Why don't you just enjoy the small victories when they happen? Go find Emma, congratulate her on what she's won and call it a day. You can always overthrow evil tomorrow"
Well…Henry was hungry.
"You'd make a good knight you know?"
"Well I made a damn good officer and there wasn't much difference I can assure you."
Henry jumped down brushing dirt of his trousers. Jack disembarked a bit more gracefully.
"So…out of curiosity who are my daughter's parents in this alternate world of yours?"
"Snow White and Prince Charming…otherwise known as Mary Margaret Blanchard and David Nolan"
His granddad stared down at him for a second. "Of course they'd be younger than me" he said grinning. Henry couldn't help but grin back.
Jack had just exited the diner the next morning for his run when he saw Regina Mills walking towards the door.
"How's the ankle?" he called. She turned and then after a second or two probably at war with herself she managed a small smile.
"Good"
"You alright?"
She raised an eyebrow. "You care?"
"Weather I like you or not I've seen enough fires and smelt enough smoke to know what it can do to a person Miss Mills" he said seriously. Regina swallowed for a second and then she straightened herself.
"I'm fine Captain"
"Ok"
Her eyes flashed at him, Jack grinned. Playing with fire though he might be he couldn't deny that he enjoyed getting a rise out of this woman.
"Captain" she said as if she was war with himself. "My son seems to like you so I will tell you this and if you tell anyone it came from me I will kill you. Graham's house is about to go for sale. If you wanted to make an offer"
Jack winked at her in response. Regina rolled her eyes slamming the door of the diner shut as she walked through it.
He wanted to ask if Henry was right about her killing the man who had died. He wanted to ask if she was really evil. He wanted to ask a lot of things actually. That was…different for him…
He shook his head starting to run, a good eight mile run would clear his head and he would come back and look at that house and forget all about curses and good versus evil and the woman that was at war with his daughter over a kid that believed that his teacher was his grandmother.
It was better that way he told himself. Much better that way.
And there it is. Hope you all enjoy and I will try and have an update for you as soon as possible.
Next Chapter-Emma confronts her scarred past, Mary Margaret must deal with her feelings for a married man. Gold and Jack have a run in and in a flashback Emma and Jack try to adapt to their new relationship a bit more when both of them have nightmares.
