"Two grilled cheeses, one with onion rings and one with salad!" Ruby calls behind her to the kitchen as Emma walks into Granny's. They both make a face at the word 'salad'.
"Are we that predictable already?" Emma asks her, coming up to sit on one of the bar stools and wait for her order.
Ruby smiles. "I mean you guys do get lunch here every Friday…"
Emma smiles back awkwardly, wondering if they should cut back on the junk food a little. At least Killian always gets a salad - old habits and scurvy he'd told her once. But Emma can't bring herself to sacrifice her onion rings. There's something blasphemous about vegetables with grilled cheese. She worries sometimes though. She knows it's a small thing - getting take out every week from Granny's - but it's more than that. Since Killian joined her at the station as the new deputy, she worries. Worries that maybe this isn't enough for him. That giving up a life on the sea for being a cop in a small town where nothing seems to happen (anymore anyway) is too dull - that he'll get antsy and want to leave - want more - more than her. She knows he won't. She knows it. But, well… old habits.
"Hey," Ruby says, reading her expression. "It's nice. You guys have a routine. Nothing wrong with that. God knows you deserve it after all the hell you went through - literally." Emma nods but she's not totally convinced. "Emma," she says and Emma forces herself to look at Ruby rather than her hands on the countertop. "You know he's not going anywhere right?"
Emma hesitates for only a moment before nodding again - more sure this time. She does know. She just needs to keep reminding herself every now and then. He's here to stay. He's promised her as much countless times. "Thanks," she tells her friend. Emma likes that, having friends. It's new to her. She has a whole community really. Ever since they got back from the Underworld things have been… normal - not Storybrooke normal but actual normal - calm - and Emma has finally had the time to get to know the people she's lived with for the past four years.
"Listen," Ruby adds when she seems sure that Emma's over whatever little inner crisis she just had. "I was talking to Henry last night…" She hesitates, like she's unsure if she should bring up whatever she's about to say. "He's really worried about Regina. It's been three months."
"I know." Of course she knows. How could she not know that her son's other mother took off three months ago without a word and hasn't bothered to keep in touch beyond a few letters or texts to Henry letting him know that she's alright and in New York or California or wherever "finding herself" and "healing". Emma understands grief but this is a bit much. She has a child; she has responsibilities.
"I only mention it because he's brought it up a few times and, well…"
"Well what?" Emma prods.
"I caught him trying to steal my car last night."
"What!?" Emma repeats, shocked. Henry did what!? Henry doesn't do that kind of thing. Henry's a good kid - her kid. Her kid who's apparently headed down a path of grand theft auto. (Why the hell did David teach him to drive!?) Emma has a moment of panic that somewhere along the lines she gave him the impression that this was okay, that she'd failed him as a mother, at teaching him what's right and what's wrong. She'd stolen a car after all. She'd stolen lots of things. How could she not have noticed? How could she not have noticed that things were this bad?
"It's fine. He didn't even get the thing unlocked," Ruby reassures her. "I don't think he's turning to a life of crime," she adds. "He told me… he told me he was going to go looking for his mom. He doesn't believe that she's really okay and just out there travelling."
"He doesn't?"
"That's what he told me."
Emma lets out the breath she'd been holding since Ruby started speaking. Of course he doesn't. Henry's life for the past few years has been nothing but one crisis after another. He's lived in fear and on edge for most of his pre-teen life. Of course he wouldn't believe that his mother left willingly.
He doesn't want to believe it, Emma realizes. She's been there, rationalizing away people disappearing from her life. She remembers coming up with all sorts of reasons why they must have had to leave. Anything is better than admitting that they left you behind, that they abandoned you.
Henry's hurting. She knew he was hurting but she didn't know it was this bad. "Thanks, Ruby. I'll talk to him," she promises. And she will. She can't do anything about Regina leaving but she can damn well make sure that Henry knows that the rest of the people in his life aren't going anywhere - not her, not Killian, not David, or Mary Margaret, or any other surrogate parent he has in this town.
And she needs to step up. She's been slacking on her mom duty lately and a flutter of shame flows through her. She's been so caught up in her new routine, her new relationship, and her happiness that she hasn't made the one-on-one time she should for Henry. Sure, he's a teenager now and wants to spend most of his time with friends or on his phone but he's been spending too many nights with his grandparents or Ruby while she and Killian play house.
"Hey, you're a good mom," Ruby assures her, as though she can read her thoughts. "With everything being so calm lately… I think a lot of us have forgotten how to deal with the issues that don't involve monsters or villains."
Emma nods but doesn't feel any better. "Thanks for telling me. And for watching him so much lately," she says as a cook hands Ruby a brown paper bag containing her and Killian's lunch.
Ruby's smile becomes a bit more mischievous then. "No problem. He's a good kid. Besides, it's good for you and Hook to have some alone time to… reconnect," she says with a raised brow and Emma's face flushes bright red at her tone - mostly because she's not wrong. They've been doing a lot of 'reconnecting' since Killian got back. She just wasn't aware the whole town knew about it.
Ruby laughs at her. "So, what's it like?"
"What's what like?" Emma asks, eyes wide.
"Having a live-in boyfriend, having him at the station with you."
"It's nice," Emma says cautiously, wondering where this is going. It is nice. She didn't know how it would work out - being together all day and then going home to the same house, but it's, well… it's perfect really.
Most days are slow and Emma gets to spend time playing cards or swapping stories with Killian and her dad. She loves watching them grow closer, the genuine friendship that's developed between them makes her heart swell in the most amazing way. The same way it does when Killian and Henry come home with windswept hair and sunburnt cheeks after a day on the water or sword fighting. Or when they come home humming the same song after an afternoon of listening to music and talking in the park - something Henry has been inviting Killian to do more and more lately.
On the days where David isn't there, Killian and Emma have taken to continuing an ongoing competition to see how much they can rile the other one up with wandering hands while they pass each other in the narrow halls of the evidence locker, or lips so close they nearly brush ears as they pour over case files together, before one of them breaks and jumps the other in the break room or the holding cell - or that one time on her desk.
Some days there's a little more action - a fight breaking out in a bar or chasing down vandals through the streets of Storybrooke. Those days, Emma keeps the images of Killian in the back of her mind - Killian breaking apart a brawl with surprising strength, Killian sweaty and panting after chasing a perp, or - most significantly, Killian using what she's come to refer to as his 'captain's voice' to strike fear into the hearts of grown men. She lets them play over and over in her head throughout the day until finally she gets him home and has him use that captain's voice on her. A small smile pulls at her lips. Yeah. It's really nice.
Emma grabs the bag from Ruby who's grinning like the cheshire cat now. "What?" she demands.
"Nothing," Ruby says innocently. "You just look a little tired. Late nights at the station?" she asks and the way she says it makes Emma go bright red again.
"Shut up," she mumbles, putting some money down on the counter and Ruby throws her head back laughing.
"Yeah, you better get going. I'd be in a hurry to get back to work too if I had that waiting for me," Ruby teases her, leaning her elbow on the counter and laying her chin in her palm.
Emma, now definitely the colour of a tomato, turns to leave, only to nearly collide with Doc who comes storming up to the counter.
"Watch it," he says and Emma is taken aback by the harsh tone of the usually kind man's voice. "Coffee," he tells Ruby without so much as a please or even a hello. Emma watches wide eyed as Ruby pours him a cup and accepts cash before Doc walks right back out the door without a word.
"What the hell got into him?" Emma asks, staring after him.
Ruby shrugs. "Lots of people have been acting weird lately," she says dismissively. "Like I said. I think people just don't know what to do with no crisis to obsess over. They're going stir crazy in a small town. Maybe we should talk to your mom. She could probably organize some kind of event right? Or a committee? Give people something to do."
"I think my mom would love that," Emma says. She also can't ignore the fact that giving Henry something to keep him busy might be a good idea as well - something that doesn't involve criminal behaviour. She thought him learning to sail and sword fight was enough but maybe he needs something else - a club or a hobby.
She's going to tell Ruby that she'll ask Mary Margaret about it when her phone buzzes in her pocket. She pulls it out only to open it and find a slew of messages coming in from Killian, asking if she can get back to the station early. Something about the phones and an overwhelming amount of calls and she knows he still has trouble with the landline. She frowns. It's not like him to ask her to rush back. He's always the one insisting she doesn't take enough breaks, that she needs to take more time for herself.
"I need to go," she says. "Something's up at the station." She pockets her phone and heads for the door.
"Call me if you need anything!" Ruby says, her tone much more serious than it was a second ago. Emma waves at her in acknowledgement as she makes her way out the door.
Luckily, the station is only a five minute walk from Granny's. When she arrives, she can hear the phone ringing off the hook before she even walks in. She makes her way into the office and finds Killian pacing by the desk, stopping every now and then to jab at buttons or pick up the phone, shout 'hello' and then hang it back up. She sets the paper bag down and approaches her flustered boyfriend.
"Hey," she starts cautiously, glancing at all the flashing lights on the phone. "What's going on?"
"Swan! Thank god. That infernal machine hasn't stopped shouting at me since you left." He looks equal parts angry and defeated and Emma has to fight back a small smile at Killian's ongoing battle with modern technology.
"Okay… You remember how to answer it right?" she asks and he gives her an exasperated look.
"Yes, Swan. I remember how to answer it. But I tried to put someone on hold because so many calls were coming in at once and then suddenly they were all on hold and I can't answer any of them and it's still ringing!" He looks about ready to introduce the phone to the wrong side of his hook.
"What are people calling about?" she asks, surprised by the volume of them.
"Ridiculous things. Pointless things." She gives him a look. "I'm serious! I've had three calls from people telling me their cashier was rude to them and two from people telling me their neighbour ignored them."
"We can't arrest people for being rude," Emma answers.
"That's what I told them! It's what I told all of them. But still. They keep calling."
She frowns. "Alright. Let's see what we're dealing with now." She picks up the phone and presses a few buttons and suddenly all the flashing lights go away. Oops. Well, she might have just hung up on everyone at once but at least the phone stopped ringing?
Killian lets out a heavy sigh at the silence, looking extremely grateful. She's about to make a comment about it when the phone suddenly starts ringing again. Killian lets his head fall back as Emma answers it. She frowns, then closes her eyes and says uh-huh a few times before finally telling the person on the other end of the line, "I'm sorry, Ma'am, but that's not really police business. Maybe you can try a marriage counsellor?" She hangs up and Killian is giving her a knowing look. "That was Mrs. Cobbler. She said her husband has been out all night lately and that he's been distant."
Killian nods. "They've all been like that."
Emma frowns, thinking about what Ruby said earlier about people having trouble adjusting to the comparable dullness small town life. She reasons that that makes sense but there's something pulling at her gut, something whispering what if it's more? Could it be? Or is she just so used to her life being a non stop parade of crisis and horror that it's just become a knee-jerk reaction now; her default setting is to assume the worst. She should ask Killian. He knows her better than she knows herself most of the time. He'd be able to tell her if she's just panicking.
She's about to ask him when the phone rings again. This time he answers it and his face quickly turns from annoyed to serious as he listens to the voice on the other end. "We'll be right there," he says before hanging up.
Emma's already grabbing the keys as she asks him "where are we headed?"
"The Rabbit Hole," he tells her, throwing on his jacket. "That was the owner. A fight broke out."
She frowns, glancing at her watch. "It's one o'clock in the afternoon!" Who could be drunk and fighting at one o'clock in the freaking afternoon? People really needed something to keep them busy.
"People are bored, love," he tells her and Emma feels that swell of doubt and fear creep up again and she just knows he sees it because he catches her arm. "People are bored. Not me," he tells her, planting a quick, reassuring kiss on her lips. He smiles at her. "How could I possibly be bored when I get to break up a fight before lunch? It's like being back on a ship again!" She smiles back at him and he signals for her to head out first. She hears him hum in appreciation behind her. "Getting to follow along behind the sheriff helps too," he says. She glances back long enough to catch the biggest shit-eating grin on his face as he unabashedly checks out her ass.
She smirks at him. "Yeah, well, just make sure you can keep up," she answers and he grins, following her out the front door.
They've just gotten to the parking lot and are making their way to her bug when Emma spots David walking down main street, towards the center of town. That's weird, she thinks. David told her that he and Mary Margaret were planning on spending the day at the beach with Neal since it's the first day off David's had in awhile. The beach is the other way and she'd think they'd be there by now...
"David!" she calls but he doesn't react. "Hey, Dad!" she tries again but he continues walking. Emma frowns. She swears he can hear her from where she's standing. She sits in the driver's seat, still frowning.
"Everything alright?" Killian asks, looking at her with concern.
Emma shakes her head, trying to clear it. "Yeah, fine. Let's go see what this fight is about."
Killian hesitates for a second before reaching up and putting the siren on top of the car as Emma starts the engine.
Emma came to a decision last night. While she tossed and turned on her uncomfortable little cot, trying to come up with an escape plan, she was faced with the crushing realization that, as of now, she didn't have one. She was stuck. Stuck in this stupid cell in this stupid hospital and stuck trying to figure out how to offer up her own heart to some asshole who called himself the Horned King. Yeah. The fucking antlered monster from that stupid movie with the talking pig.
She didn't have a way out. Not yet. But as she'd stared at the books that surrounded her in the darkness last night, the only light coming from the small flame she was producing and extinguishing over and over in her hand as she debated setting all the pages on fire just to piss off the King and Gold, she had a thought. She was surrounded by piles of tombs on all manner of spells and enchantments and curses. Maybe, just maybe, there would be something in one of them. Something about the King or the curse he'd cast on the people she loved.
Maybe she didn't have a way out yet, but, maybe if she found something, when she did find a way out she'd be ready. Ready to take him down. Maybe here is where she needed to be. Here where she could use the resources she was given to finish the bastard once and for all.
She had two purposes now. Find a way to stop the King, and get Henry out. That was always number one. Maybe she could bargain with Gold. Offer him something for Henry's release. But he'd never go for it. She knew it. Henry was their only leverage. No, she'd have to get him out, get them both out. But until she could do that, she was going to make the best of this captivity and make sure that the first thing she did when she got out was kill the King. Slowly.
She'd been pouring through books now for hours. At some point, a tray had been slid under her door so she knew it must be after noon but she hadn't found anything. Nothing on the curse, nothing on the King, nothing on how to break this stupid magic-containment spell keeping her locked in this room. This was like Hades all over again, she thought. A villain so powerful that no earthly means seemed to be able to stop him.
That's when it hit her. Hades. They'd beat Hades by finding out his weakness, by reading his story. What if she could find the King's story? Then maybe she could learn the source of his power and, more importantly, how to destroy it. She searched desperately through the piles of books, looking for the storybook, for any storybook, but it was nowhere to be found. She threw a copy of "The Necromancer's Guide to Life after Death" across the room in frustration before marching her way up to the door.
"Hey! You!" She called. The Killian-shaped thing at the door turned its head only a fraction in acknowledgement. "Yeah, you. Tell Gold I need the storybook." She made something up on the spot. "I think I remember a story about Cora and some heart stealing loopholes she had." Killian would know that she was lying but this thing wouldn't. She tried not to let that sting as much as it did.
He didn't acknowledge her words or say anything in answer, but he walked off down the hall. Emma waited, heart racing and hands nearly shaking as she waited to see if Gold would buy her excuse. After what felt like ages, she heard footsteps returning and the storybook was shoved through the slot in the door. Emma rushed to pick it up and brought it back to her cot, tearing it open and desperately searching for anything that could help.
She didn't find anything. What she did find was that stupid picture of her and Killian dancing at King Midas' ball. The one that seemed to haunt her whenever she was at her lowest. The one that reminded her of everything she'd lost. She slammed the book shut and threw that one across the room too. She collapsed sideways on her cot, defeated. Fucking pointless. It was all fucking pointless.
Emma winced as something dug into her ribs. Annoyed, she reached into the inside pocket of her jacket, the same one she'd been wearing since she got here, since she was taken, and touched something familiar.
Her phone.
She was a fucking idiot. Her phone. Here she was relying on the books provided by the person who would be most invested in protecting the King's identity when she had the unlimited resources of the internet in her pocket the whole time.
She yanked it out desperately, thanking whatever gods were out there that it still had a charge. She picked up the nearest book, curling her knees up and resting it open against them, hiding her phone behind the pages like a teenager texting in class. She started her search.
There wasn't much. Apparently the Horned King's movie didn't do too well at the box office and it didn't seem to pull from any fairytale. She searched for nearly an hour (making a point to turn the pages in the book in her lap every now and then so that her guard wouldn't get suspicious of the silence) before she found something. It wasn't much. A passing reference to a character from a fantasy series that seemed to be the inspiration for the Disney movie. It could be nothing but if this was it - if this was his story… it could be everything.
Emma nearly cried out in anger as her phone flashed low battery a second before the screen went black. Of course. She let herself flop back on her mattress. She didn't know how many more let downs she could take. She was so tired. Tired and annoyed and frustrated and… lonely. She hated to admit it but it was true. This whole solitary confinement thing was starting to make her feel a little "yellow wallpaper" and this latest defeat just made it more unbearable. She just wanted to hear something other than the pages turning in her book and her own breathing.
"Don't you get bored just standing there?" she heard herself asking before she'd even thought about what she was doing. There wasn't an answer. She didn't expect one but even hearing her own voice was something - better than the deafening silence anyway. "Or do you not feel boredom?" she continued, the sound of her voice echoing against the stone walls. "Is bored an emotion? I know you guys don't do emotions. I don't know if boredom counts though." She just kept talking. "I wonder if the King feels anything. Is that why he cast this curse? Because he doesn't have a heart or a soul or whatever? Is it some kind of Voldemort complex?"
Emma rolled over onto her side, noticing the book she'd thrown most recently. It was a book of potions and the subject intrigued her. She didn't know much about potions - all her magic came from inside of her - she'd never really done much of the 'bubble bubble toil and trouble' part of it. She walked over and picked up the book, leafing through it and making faces at the ingredients listed in some of the recipes.
"Jesus Christ," she mumbled as she read one particularly nasty one. "Did you know that to make yourself look younger you can drink a combination of pig warts, ground baby teeth, and unicorn dung?" she felt her stomach roll. The thing on the other side of the door didn't answer. She imagined what Killian's answer would have been. She could just picture his disgust as she teased him about alternative options to curses and Neverland. She smiled a bit as she remembered the morning he'd discovered a grey hair in his beard and she'd had to convince him not to shave it off completely by showing him exactly how fond she was of the whole 'silver fox' thing.
She stopped herself. That wouldn't do any good. She had to stop remembering him. He was gone. That thing outside the door wasn't him and it wouldn't tease her back or feel any disgust over weird potions or distress over aging. She went back to her cot again, laying back and staring up at the small, barred window that stood above it.
That's when she saw it. Something moved outside. Something big. She waited, holding her breath until she saw it again. It was an animal. A wolf. Ruby. Ruby was alive! Holy shit! She stood up on her cot, just able to reach her nose over the windowsill. Ruby was getting further away. She didn't know Emma was there. She had to get her attention.
"You know, there's some other stuff in here too," she began making up, hoping not-Killian would assume she was still just talking to him and praying that Ruby's wolf ears would pick up her voice. "Uh, something about shape shifting. Like you can turn into a wolf." She watched as Ruby paused, ears pricking up. She looked around desperately at the ground outside. The base of the window was level with the grass. Nearby, she spotted some blue and yellow flowers growing along the wall. "It's pretty easy to find the ingredients too. Just some forget-me-nots and dandelions." The wolf turned, coming back towards her cell and Emma's heart soared. Ruby searched, spotting the flowers growing. "Yeah, they're not hard to find at all - really close actually… lots of them left this time of year."
And suddenly, Ruby's nose was right at the bars and Emma's eyes burned with tears of relief as she saw the recognition in her friend's yellow eyes. She was alive. She was alive and she was herself. Emma held a finger up to her lips, pointing to the door and Ruby lay down on the grass by the bars. "Oh, this part's kind of interesting," she said dismissively, hoping Ruby could read her expression and hear the hidden meaning in her words. "It says that for the spell to be permanent, the one who wants to use the wolf-shape-shifting-spell-thing…" she continued, cringing at her own words, "has to find the witch or wizard's firstborn son - or daughter!" she added quickly. She doubted he was even listening but she couldn't risk him understanding. "And watch over them… while they… pick the flowers," she finished lamely.
Ruby looked at her and then she nodded. Or at least Emma thought she nodded. She'd never really seen a wolf nod before but that was what it looked like. She returned it and Ruby took off, nose to the ground as she searched for what Emma could only assume and hope was Henry's scent.
Hope. There it was again. When she'd woken up this morning she'd been without hope of getting out of here but now - with Ruby's help - maybe they had a chance. She felt hopeful. She felt capable and brave and she wasn't going to let it go to waste.
"Hey!" She shouted, coming up to the door. "I want to see Gold. Bring me to him."
There was a second of silence before the cuff was slipped through the slot. Emma put it on and banged twice on the heavy metal door.
The door opened and Emma steeled herself against the pain of seeing Killian's face staring at her with blank eyes. She wondered if it would stop hurting eventually. She needed to believe that it would.
Still without a word, the imposter took hold of her shoulder and began leading her down the hall. She tried to shake off his grip, the pressure of his hand through her jacket making her feel sick to her stomach. His hold was too tight, too severe. She hated him. But he held firm and Emma resigned, aware that without her magic his strength outweighed her own.
She let herself be led to a room where she presumed Gold was waiting. Her guard knocked and waited for a cold, impish voice to beckon them in before opening the door. Emma looked around. She snorted. It seemed Gold had taken up the former chief of surgery's office and turned it into some kind of throne room. It reminded her of his castle in the enchanted forest when she'd gone back in time with Killian. Various objects were scattered around the room - some she recognized from his shop, some she didn't. He had spell books open on his desk and Emma wondered if he was still looking for a way to remove her heart.
"Miss Swan," he chimed as she walked in. "I can't imagine you've come to tell me you've already succeeded." Emma only glared at him. Yeah, she wasn't in any rush. "Tell me, did the storybook prove helpful?" he asked, almost conversationally and a part of her wondered if he knew what she'd been up to and had allowed her the book only to revel in her disappointment.
She took a deep breath and made herself as tall as possible. "I want to see Henry."
Gold looked at her, his expression a mix of curiosity and mirth. "Do you now? And what do you possibly think would persuade me to allow that?"
"I need to know he's okay."
"He's fine," Gold said dismissively.
"And I'm just supposed to believe you?" she demanded, her anger getting the best of her.
"You have no other choice," Gold told her, waving a hand at his puppet to lead her away. The hand on her shoulder started to drag her back but she fought it off, thrashing under the grip.
"I won't do what you want me to!" She said, desperately. Gold paused, looking her over. "I won't figure out the spell unless you let me make sure he's okay. Once a day. If you want my heart, that's the deal."
"But we've already made a deal," he reminded her. "You'll do it, or we'll kill him," Gold said as if the threat itself didn't rip her heart out of her chest for her.
She breathed deep, reigning in the panic and the fear and the desperation and hiding it all behind her best poker face, behind the indifference she needed to make Gold believe her, the indifference she'd developed after watching her family become creatures she felt no pain in ridding the earth of. "Then you won't have any leverage."
Gold looked at her for a long time. His yellow eyes seemed to force her own to stay locked on him and she felt like Mogli looking into the eyes of the snake, mesmerized, terrified, and trapped. He held all the power here. If he called her bluff she wouldn't get to see Henry - wouldn't know if he was alright or if he was scared and hurt. Or, even worse, Gold could call her bluff and kill Henry. She prayed that some part of him, some small part that was still Baelfire's father and not the Dark One wouldn't be able to bring himself to kill his own grandson.
Finally, he looked away, turning his gaze to the imposter beside her. "Take her to the boy," he said flippantly. "Far be it from me to keep family apart," he added and something in his tone sounded like a challenge. Emma didn't know what the challenge was but she hoped she could face it when the time came.
The hand was back on her shoulder again and this time she let herself be led away. They didn't walk far. They made their way up a set of stairs to the children's ward. They stopped outside what looked like a playroom and her prison guard stopped her in front of the door.
"Three minutes," he told her before opening the door. Emma stepped forward, heart swelling with the anticipation of seeing her son. She'd barely made it through the threshold when she had to duck to avoid a marble flying by her head. It hit the wall behind her with a sharp ping. She looked up shocked to see Henry sitting on a hospital bed holding a makeshift slingshot built out of what looked like lego, train track pieces, and some kind of rubber. His expression reflected her shock when he recognized her.
"Nice shot, kid," she told him, barely holding back the tears in her eyes. She hadn't been this relieved to see him since he'd found her in that tower so long ago.
"Mom!" he shouted, flinging himself off the bed and throwing himself into her arms. She stumbled back with the force of her nearly-grown son colliding with her chest, her shoulders bumping the door shut in the process. She was surprised when it remained closed.
"Hey," was all she could manage to say, squeezing him as tightly as she could. The tears fell freely now and she just let herself enjoy the feel of him wrapped in her arms, his chin digging into her shoulder and his arms crushing her ribcage. "Are you okay?" she asked, voice cracking. She felt him nod against her shoulder before pulling back slightly. She took his face in her hands and looked him over quickly. He looked okay. He looked tired but healthy. He was in a room with books and toys and he was clearly able to defend himself if the slingshot was anything to go by. That's my kid she thought proudly.
"Mom," he whispered, casting an eye at the door, "Ruby's here."
Her heart swelled in relief knowing that Ruby had found him. "I know."
"The guards don't notice her. They only know to look for people so they don't care about a wolf," he continued in a hushed tone. "It's just like Sirius Black and the dementors!" he added a little excitedly and Emma couldn't help but smile a little bit.
"Listen, kid, we don't have long, okay?" She had a million things to ask him, to tell him - she wanted to spend an hour just holding on to him. But they only had three minutes and she knew that if anyone would be able to find out more about the Horned King it was Henry. She brought her own voice down to a whisper as she told him what she'd discovered earlier, told him about the book series and a creature with an army of living dead.
Henry's eyes lit up in excitement as she spoke and she had to shush him as he answered her. "I think I've read that series!" he exclaimed before bringing his voice back down to a whisper. "It was a long time ago but if he's who I think he is…" Henry looked around frantically, trying to recall details before his eyes widened even more. "Mom, I think he can shapeshift. That explains people acting acting so weird in the beginning - well that and the cursed sleeper-cell agents. Maybe he was pretending to be them." Emma stared at her son in amazement and pride, remembering an event months ago with David outside the station. "We should think of a code!" he said suddenly. "Something so that we know it's really us. Just in case."
Emma looked at him for a moment, trying to think. Suddenly it dawned on her. "When we were in New York, that year we were cursed, what video game could you never beat me at?" She smirked a little as Henry rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"GoldenEye" He looked at her a bit snarkily. "What movie did you make me watch a hundred times because you didn't want to watch it alone and didn't want anyone else to know how much you loved it?"
She rolled her eyes this time. "The Princess Bride."
Henry nodded. "Okay so when you see me say 'Princess Bride' and if I don't answer 'GoldenEye' then we know. Operation: New York," he said with a small grin.
Emma let out a sob as she wrapped him up in her arms, just needing to hold on to him for as long as she could. He may have grown up a lot in the past four years, especially in these last few months, but underneath it all, he was still that same infuriatingly-optimistic, brilliant kid who had found her all those years ago.
The door opened then and a familiar voice called, "Time's up."
Emma whirled around, rage in her eyes and in her blood as a fierce protectiveness came over her. "Just give us a minute!" she shouted. She didn't want him near them. Didn't want this thing coming anywhere near her or Henry and spoiling this moment. She didn't want Henry to see the man he'd grown to care for as a father look at her with those cold, empty eyes that had broken her heart so many times already.
She watched in shock as those same eyes stared at her, the hand that had reached out to grab her, to pull her and Henry apart paused in mid air. He frowned, looking at her, then the ground, then his hand, his whole face pulling into a pained grimace. Slowly, the fingers that he held extended curled in one by one, his arm dropping back to his side as he continued to stare at her, his brow twisted in something she couldn't read. Emma felt trapped under a gaze for the second time that day. He didn't look emotional, it looked like a physical pain. Like stopping hurt him. Her heart stuttered in her chest, her mind flashing back to his hand squeezing her wrist so hard it hurt in the middle of Granny's diner. No. She couldn't let herself think like that. She just couldn't. If she did and she was wrong. No.
She didn't know how long this weird compliance would last so she turned quickly back to Henry who was staring at the man who used to be Killian with shock and a little bit of heartbreak. "I love you, Henry," she told him, hugging him one more time. She turned her head so that she could whisper in his ear, low enough so that only he could hear. "I'll get us out of here, I promise."
"I know," he answered and Emma wasn't sure if it was her tears or his that were soaking her hair to her cheeks but she didn't care.
She pulled back, kissing his forehead and telling him she'd be back tomorrow before she turned back to her guard. He looked physically relieved as she let him lead her back to her cell.
As Emma walked, the hand on her shoulder felt lighter and she chalked it up to her newfound sense of purpose - purpose and hope. She wasn't alone. She had Henry and she had Ruby and together, they could do this. They would get out. She just needed to hold on to those two words Henry had said. "I know." If he believed in her, believed in them, after all of this, then she had to believe in them too.